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THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 



by the same author 
JOURNALIST'S WIFE 

ARREST AND EXILE 
RIPTIDE OF AGGRESSION 

CONCERNING FRANCE 
THE UNITED STATES AND WORLD RELATIONS 



THE INDOMITABLE 
JOHN SCOTT: 

CITIZEN OF LONG ISLAND 
1632-1704 

By 
LILIAN T. MOWRER 

PREFACE BY 

HAROLD HULME 

Professor of History, New York University 



FARRAR, STRAUS AND CTTDAHY 
NEW YOF 



Copyright 1960 by Lilian T. Mowrer 

First printing, 1960 

Library of Congress catalog card number: 60-12983 

Published simultaneously in Canada by 
Ambassador Books, Ltd., Toronto 

Manufactured in the United States of America 
by American Book-Stratford Press, Inc. 



'TIME WILL DO HIM GREAT RIGHT" 
Lady Vane 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



Preface: DR. HAROLD HULME, New York University xi 

Author's Note xiii 

PART I 

I. CIVIL WAR 3 

II. JOHN IS DEPORTED 12 

III. THE SCOTTS OF SCOT'S HALL l(5 

IV. SALEM 23 

v. JOHN'S EDUCATION 32 

VI. DIFFICULT YEARS 38 

VII. WESTWARD HO! 43 

VIII. LONG ISLAND 48 

IX. LANDED PROPRIETOR 56 

X. JOHN'S EARLY SUCCESSES Go 

XI. RESTORATION ENGLAND 9 

xii. MASSACHUSETTS' SECRET AGENT? 82 

XIII. THE SECOND HOMECOMING 95 

xiv. THE PEOPLE'S CHOICE PRESIDENT SCOTT 103 

XV. JOHN URGES THE DUTCH TO REVOLT 109 

XVI. GOVERNOR WINTHROP STRIKES 124 

XVII. CONDEMNED AND VINDICATED 128 

XVIII. ENGLAND ACQUIRES NEW NETHERLAND 140 

XIX. JOHN STANDS BY THE PEOPLE 145 

xx. JOHN'S SACRIFICE FOR FREEDOM 150 

vii 



Vlll f CONTENTS 

PART II 

XXI. GET-AWAY 165 

XXII. EXPLORER OF THE SPANISH MAIN 171 
XXIII. MAJOR-GENERAL SCOTT ON ACTIVE 

SERVICE l8l 

XXIV. THE BATTLE FOR ST. CHRISTOPHER l86 

XXV. ROYAL GEOGRAPHER ig2 

XXVI. COLONEL SCOTT IN HOLLAND 196 

XXVII. DEBORAH EGMONT AND THE RECRUITING 

OFFICER 205 

XXVIII. DISPONTEJN GOES TO JAIL 213 

XXIX. JOHN IN THE THIRD DUTCH WAR 21Q 

XXX. THE SECRET DOINGS OF JOHN SCOTT 227 

XXXI. BRITISH AGENT 236 

XXXII. FRANCE LOSES AN ALLY AND JOHN 

LOSES A JOB 244 

PART III 

XXXIII. A BOURBON AS PATRON 253 

XXXIV. A CURIOUS EXPERIMENT 259 
XXXV. YEARS OF MYSTERY 268 

XXXVI. PEPYS APPROACHES JOHN 274 

XXXVII. THE POPISH PLOT 278 

xxxvni. "BUCKINGHAM'S JOHN'' 284 

XXXIX. THE PLOT THICKENS 2g2 
XL. JOHN WARNS KING LOUIS; AND 

RECEIVES A STRANGE CONFESSION 297 

XH. JOHN ACCUSES PEPYS 306 

XLII. COUNTER ATTACK 315 

XLIII. THE AFFIDAVITS 325 

XLIV. JOYNE'S JOURNAL 334 

XLV. THE LEGEND OF JOHN SCOTT 344 

XLVI. MURDER IN THE DARK 357 

XLVII. LAST DAYS 370 



CONTENTS f * x 

EPILOGUE 3 82 

APPENDICES 39 1 

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND ABBREVIATIONS 411 

INDEX 4 2 9 



PREFACE 



To THOSE versed in England's colonial and domestic history 
during the second half of the seventeenth century John Scott, 
a minor figure in that colorful time, is remembered as a no- 
torious but picturesque and piquant rascal. Loved by many 
in America, despised by a few in England, Scott's evil repute 
has rested largely on depositions which Samuel Pepys ob- 
tained but never used to blacken John, a leading and most 
damaging witness in the parliamentary investigation of that 
admiralty secretary. Wilbur Cortez Abbott, among others, in 
his writings of twenty-five to forty years ago on Scott, basing 
his work largely on the Pepysian papers, is chiefly responsible 
tor giving this seventeenth century character such a dis- 
reputable name among students of history. 

Now after a careful examination of these same documents 
Lilian Mowrer has found that the depositions against Scott 
were made by malevolently inventive witnesses whose evi- 
dence would have had little chance of acceptance even in the 
notorious English Restoration courts. Becoming deeply in- 
terested in John Scott she followed him back and forth across 
Long Island Sound, the Atlantic Ocean, the English Channel, 
the North Sea, and into the Caribbean. With the help of 
hundreds of papers and documents she has reconstructed his 
life from birth in 1632 to his death in 1704. 

This gifted, artful man with his widespread interests and 
far-flung activities Long Island landowner, West Indies buc- 



XI 



Xll t PREFACE 



cancer, Dutch Colonel, Royal Geographer, English officer and 
agent in the Low Countries, French gun caster, a coachman's 
murderer, and Speaker of the Assembly at Montserrat in the 
Leeward Islands Mrs. Mowrer has vividly brought back to 
life in a style the envy of most stolid historians. At the same 
time she has made excellent use of the historian's tools: rec- 
ords, papers, and documents in New England, New York, and 
Long Island communities, in England's British Museum, Pub- 
lic Record Office, and Bodleian Library, in France's record^ 
repositories, and in Holland's archives. She has made John 
Scott a respectable, loyal subject of Charles II. She has shown 
him to be a man of many and varied abilities. She has dis- 
closed a rough, at times crude, but charming personality in a 
man whose character was as straightforward and honest as 
that of most men of his day. She has followed his career with 
all the fascinating details at her disposal. All this Lilian 
Mowrer has done with imagination and insight and has 
soundly based her work on the finest materials the most me- 
ticulous historian could desire. This is a brilliant historical 
biography. I believe that it will rehabilitate John Scott in 
the eyes of students of English and American history and will 
instruct and delight the reader seeking knowledge and ad- 
venture. 

HAROLD HULME 
Professor of History 
New York University 



AUTHOR'S NOTE 



ABOUT 1950 I became interested in John Scott of Long Is- 
land, a colorful seventeenth century adventurer whom Mrs. 
Mary Van Rensselaer in her own two-volume History of 
Seventeenth Century New York considered long since well 
worth a full-length biography. 

I had read history at Liverpool University, at the Sorbonne 
in Paris, and at the old Sapienza in Rome. The bold specu- 
lative Seicento always interested me most, so my prospective 
hero fitted right into the period I knew best. 

From Wilbur C. Abbott's standard monograph on "Colo- 
nel" John Scott, I knew that Scott's testimony, at the time of 
the Popish Plot, had sent Samuel Pepys to the Tower of 
London for treason, and that the famous diarist (who was at 
that period Secretary of the British Admiralty) had, to save 
his head, collected a number of sworn statements, all de- 
signed to discredit his accuser and prove that he, Scott, was 
the traitor. 

Though biographers have leaned heavily on this material 
(or on others' work about it) none of the papers themselves 
have ever been published. They remain in the Bodleian Li- 
brary among the Rawlinson Collection. So to get firsthand 
the full Scott story I went to Oxford to examine just what 
Pepys* informers had charged. 

The massive brown leather folio volumes are a veritable 
treasure-trove of the alleged doings of "that arch scoundrel. 



xin 



xiv f AUTHOR'S NOTE 

that most unscrupulous and plotting adventurer" (as one 
writer, G. D. Scull, calls him), a series of charges culminating 
in the accusation of Scott's dismissal from the Dutch forces 
for embezzling seven thousand pounds sterling, and court- 
martial by the British Admiralty for cowardice in action! 

For weeks and weeks I pored over this rich mine, labori- 
ously copying out essential passages. But as I continued I was 
gradually struck by the similarity of the various affidavits and 
by the fact that few who testified to Scott's infamy had known 
him personally or possessed firsthand knowledge of the in- 
cidents they were writing about indeed, one sworn statement 
came from a patient in a London hospital whose barber had 
related what a friend of his knew of Scott's doings in Hol- 
land! 

I come from a long line of lawyers; talk of legal procedure 
was commonplace in our house. The credibility of witnesses 
was something we children learned immediately to ask about. 
And as I continued reading Pepys' affidavits I kept wondering 
about the people who had written them, and if it were not 
possible to check the charges against other testimony or 
proven fact. All the witnesses spoke of Scott as an inveterate 
traveller, in New England, Holland, France, the Caribbean. 
Such a notorious figure would surely have left traces behind 
him. 

My quest led me first to The Hague and to seventeenth cen- 
tury Dutch military files and army yearbooks. That John 
Scott served in the United Provinces forces was correct, his 
promotion to colonel a matter of official record. But neither 
desertion nor dismissal marred his career. The Civil Courts 
did, indeed, record an embezzlement case, but it was Scott 
who prosecuted another man for swindling army funds, and 
the sum was seven hundred guilders, not seven thousand 
pounds! Moreover, to my amazement, I found in Dr. H. Har- 
denberg, director of the Algemeen Rijksarchief (state ar- 
chives) an enthusiastic admirer of my subject. This distin- 
guished scholar did everything he could to further my work, 



AUTHOR'S NOTE f xv 

for he himself had once considered writing the "definitive" 
life of John Scott, a personage highly regarded throughout 
the Netherlands. 

But if Scott had not been "dismissed" by the Dutch and 
had never embezzled anything, what about the alleged court- 
martial? I hurried to the Public Record Office in London, as 
I had been advised that the Admiralty Papers there would 
give the full record of action in the Caribbean, site of the 
supposed trial. Failing to find any mention of it, I first con- 
cluded I must have simply overlooked the item in all this 
voluminous material. So I engaged a professional archivist 
and had it further searched. Moreover, Mr. Kenneth Timings, 
Keeper of the famous Round Room and expert in naval mat- 
ters, courteously checked the results for me and also found 
nothing. 

Since it now appeared certain that my subject had no more 
been court-martialled by the British than dismissed by the 
Dutch, I began to doubt if he were really the rogue I had 
chosen to portray. 

Investigation went on for several years, for despite his 
"notoriety" most of John's life was virgin soil. 

The trail led next to Paris. Like all my predecessors I had 
accepted the version that Scott's story before the House of 
Commons, of British naval papers treasonably delivered to 
the French, was a lie invented to damn Samuel Pepys; and 
that Scott's own gun-casting fiasco at Nevers, in France, had 
been carried out with the connivance of certain "unfathom- 
able scoundrels," as Arthur Bryant describes them. 

But Quai d'Orsay diplomatic archives, manuscripts in the 
Bibliotheque Nationale and, above all, the very hard to ob- 
tain Marine Documents in the Archives Rationales place 
Scott in a completely different setting from the "nest of 
thieves" he allegedly frequented. They show him working 
with some of the highest officials in the land, and with the 
permission of France's First Minister. Far from being an ob- 
scure penniless cheat, he was the English officer, invited, as 



xvi f AUTHOR'S NOTE 

foreign military expert, to observe the French troops at Be- 
san^on, where Louis XIV achieved a brilliant victory. An- 
other setback for the affidavits. 

Three times I went back to Europe to learn more of this 
unknown John Scott I had discovered. Then in the Record 
Office one day, leafing through the Flanders state papers, I 
suddenly recognized John's handwriting no less than forty 
military-intelligence reports which he had sent to the English 
Secretary of State during the Third Dutch War. No previous 
biographer seems ever to have made use of them although 
they are packed with information. Also overlooked has been 
Scott's long letter to Charles II in 1664, which, even allowing 
for some post-hoc self-justification, reveals a totally new aspect 
of Scott's New England feud with governors John Winthrop 
and Richard Nicolls. Still other manuscripts by Scott, in the 
British Museum, not only give a vivid picture of the man 
himself but reveal a very specialized knowledge of early 
colonial settlement. 

And finally, among other Record Office papers is a docu- 
ment from Montserrat, in the West Indies, over Scott's un- 
mistakable signature, which shows that instead of fading 
away, a shady fugitive from British justice lurking on the 
Continent, Scott spent his declining years in dignified public 
service, was Speaker of the Leeward Isles Assembly, in short, 
a man "of good sense, honesty and repute," as is calendared 
in a colonial series of state papers. 

By this time the evidence pointed to one conclusion: John 
Scott was not the devious character Pepys' informants had 
made him out to be. Pepys himself must have arrived at a 
similar conclusion, for he made no use of the assembled 
material, seemed indeed, even at the time, to have doubted 
its authenticity. He thrust it all away among his private 
papers, no more dreaming that it would ever come to light 
than that millions would one day be poring over his own 
diary. Only in the nineteenth century, when Lord Bray- 
brooke first published excerpts from the diary, were the 



AUTHOR'S NOTE f xvn 

affidavits discovered and the "legend of Colonel John Scott" 
became current. 

Whether the legend can resist the impact of new material 
remains to be seen. According to fuller information John 
Scott emerges as both a colorful individual and a typical 
representative of a yeasty historical epoch one of those pica- 
resque figures who embodied the concept of the Renaissance 
"universal man/' Soldier, explorer, pioneer, something of a 
scientist and poet, his roving life certainly did not lack bois- 
terous, violent incident, but it brought him in close touch, too, 
with William Penn, and with John Locke; he was friend of 
an English Duke and a prince of the blood in France, yet 
moved easily through the shadowy political half-world, a 
British agent among other secret agents, in the plotting-est 
age of all time. I have tried to present him as he was, not as 
interested persons with an axe to grind said he was. But 
how well I realize what Samuel Eliot Morison meant when, 
after much sage advice, he warned me that I was "about to 
deprive America of one of its best-loved rascals." And added 
that the task would not be easyl 

For the feel and color of my story I have faithfully followed 
Scott's traces in Holland, France, and New England; have 
visited the house he built at North Sea in 1661, sailed in and 
out of Scott's Cove, near Scott's Landing on Long Island 
Sound names which keep his memory fresh to this day. 

Much of Scott's English background is topographically 
very familiar. I grew up in London and spent two of my 
school years at Kent College not too far from Ashford, the 
ancient market town for which he named his Setauket estate. 
I know the (modern) Scot's Hall and the villages of Smeeth 
and Brabourne. 

The dialogue in this book is all from existing documents, 
most of it verbatim, occasionally from the subject's written 
words, or from published statements of what was said. 

Over the years devoted to research and writing I have re- 
ceived valuable help which I most gratefully acknowledge. 



xviii f AUTHOR'S NOTE 

To my friends in the Library of Congress I am indebted 
for much patient assistance and the continued use of a study 
room, with unlimited access to rare material and transcrip- 
tions of town records. 

Thanks to Governor Abraham Ribicoff, my work in the 
Hartford State Library was beautifully expedited. There I 
found some crucially illuminating manuscripts concerning 
John's early land deals, all of which seem to have been carried 
out with impeccable legality. 

Through the kindness of the Reverend Dr. Arthur Adams, 
Director of the New England Historic Genealogical Society, 
I was permitted (in 1957) to examine at length the personal 
papers of Henry Edward Scott (no relation), historian and 
one time editor-emeritus of the aforesaid distinguished or- 
ganization's publications. Many of his extensive notes on the 
Scotts' genealogy confirmed my own conclusions, particularly 
on the subject of John's land holdings. 

Bernard Bailyn, Associate Professor of History at Harvard, 
read the first half of my typescript and gave me the great 
benefit of his specialized criticism. I want to thank Colonel 
Myron Scott, who read my entire manuscript, and was always 
ready to talk Scott shop with me and share his findings of a 
life-long study of the Scott genealogy. I am also particularly 
indebted to Ruth Anna Fisher, late of the Congressional Li- 
brary's Manuscripts Division, for patiently helping me to 
decipher the photostats I brought back from London of all 
the manifold (and much damaged) membranes of the Mitford 
Chancery Proceedings. 

Above all my thanks go to Edgar Mowrer, who not only 
forbore with good-humored equanimity my eight years' pre- 
occupation with another man, but who steadfastly encouraged 
my work with constructive and unstinting critical comment. 



PART ONE 



CHAPTER I 



CIVIL WAR 

The preachers thundered in their pulpits . . . and cried 
out against all that were for moderate proceedings: Thine 
eye shall not pity and thou shalt not spare . . . 

Bishop Burnet, Hist, of His Own Times, I, 8. 

"A King Ought To Be Instructed How To Rule Well." 

-John Scott, S.P. 29/419, 50. 



SIXTEEN FORTY-TWO was an ominous year for the English. It 
marked the crucial turning point in the Great Rebellion, that 
heroic conflict between King and Parliament, which cost 
Charles I his head and turned England into a Puritan repub- 
lic under Cromwell. 

It was also the year which brought the subject of this book 
onto the fringe of history for the first time, and fate could not 
have chosen a more appropriate occasion. Though all un- 
aware of the great issue of the day the individual's fight 
against arbitrary power our youthful hero was nevertheless 
to find himself thereafter continually caught up in this de- 
termined struggle. His brief initial appearance during the 
stirring historic events which overshadowed, and well-nigh 
overwhelmed him, set the theme for his later career and 
shaped much of his destiny. 

For eleven mortal years practically this young man's life 
span when the story opens King Charles I had ruled without 
parliament, while his subjects muttered and cursed as their 
constitutional liberties were whittled away. Rioting broke out 



4 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

with increasing vehemence in the London City and angry 
crowds surged through the narrow streets leading to White- 
hall, protesting the royal religious orders and arbitrary courts, 
the hateful ship-money and monopolies; young apprentices 
elbowed their way into Westminster shouting that grievances 
be redressed before supplies be voted. 

Unwillingly Charles met many of their demands, but on 
one point he would not yield. He would not give up control 
of his army, but chose rather to resort to arms. 

Breaking with parliament, he abandoned disloyal London 
to seek recruits elsewhere, and on August 22nd, 1642, at Not- 
tingham, he raised his royal standard ancient symbol of 
feudal duty. Then both sides knew that there could be no 
turning back and that Englishmen must fight Englishmen 
before they could decide if monarchy was to remain absolute, 
or if subjects might preserve and increase their freedom under 
law. 

Yet these same Englishmen were far from ready to join 
the ranks. The extremist demands of the more fanatical Puri- 
tans struck many as unreasonable in the face of all that the 
King had conceded. So the great issues from which the whole 
Western world was ultimately to benefit were decided in a 
war waged by two small minorities. Only a handful of fol- 
lowers rallied to Charles, and the parliamentary forces at 
first were equally meager. England possessed no standing 
army; only a limited militia whose members were divided in 
their loyalties. Charles* strength lay in his Cavalier officers 
and hard-riding squires, trained by his nephew, Prince Ru- 
pert, who had learned war on the Continent in the tradition 
of storm and plunder. Against these were pitted the Puritan 
lords, the yeomen and merchants, Welsh pikemen, and Irish 
camp followers, these last ready to match Rupert's infantry 
in ruthlessness. 

Neither side knew the art of war; the first pitched battle 
at Edgehill was indecisive, despite the initial advantage of 
Rupert's shock tactics. Both sides retired, the Roundheads to 



CIVIL WAR 



London, the King to Oxford. Suddenly in early November, 
1642, Charles decided to stake all on a single coup de main 
in an effort to retake his capital. With banners flying and ail 
the troops he could muster, he rode southwards, while Lon- 
don feverishly prepared to withstand the royal invader. 

Not since the Wars of the Roses had an English sovereign 
been awaited with such terror. Grimly citizens organized de- 
fenses, their fears inflamed by news sheets and highly polemi- 
cal Sunday sermons. Wildest rumors flew about the fierce 
fighting en route "hundreds killed each side," said gossips. 

But worse than stories of battles were persistent whispers 
and published reports of plundered towns, and civilians killed 
for resisting hungry soldiers. Charles Stuart, gentle, cultured, 
chaste, obdurate, was no man to hold his soldiery in check; 
the cities he occupied received short shrift, despite his good 
intentions. 

Not that the Puritans were any milder. Before Cromwell 
imposed iron discipline, they too looted and murdered, 
stripped and flogged women, burned churches, fired on cruci- 
fixes, pawned organ pipes for pots of ale. 

Sober citizens were appalled at such desperate happenings. 
When reports spread that the King intended to cross the 
Thames at Kingston and march on Kent, many, regardless of 
political sympathy, flocked to London as the safest place to 
live. 

Among the Kentish gentry who fled were a young war 
widow and her eldest son John Scott. 

To a ten-year-old country boy, London at such a moment 
must have stirred the wildest feelings and one can imagine 
John's excitement as he explored the crowded streets and 
gaped at all the military doings that were fast transforming 
a bustling medieval city into an armed camp commanded by 
a new breed of Englishmen the somber self-righteous Puri- 
tanswho were suddenly there in its midst, taking over the 
government, reversing its oldest traditions. 



6 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

Under English administration, troops were always mus- 
tered by the gentry, but it was precisely this class that had 
suffered most from Charles' arbitrary rule. Squires had been 
so harried by petty restrictions and regulations, by knight- 
hood fines and the like, that they, who traditionally should all 
have been King's men, were now slow to support him, and 
some were showing interest in the other side. This lack of 
enthusiasm of the many was offset by the fanatical loyalty of 
the few. 

John's father, Colonel John Scott, a Kentish squire of pas- 
sionate conviction, had been one of the very first to declare 
himself. He had sold his estate worth twenty-two hundred 
pounds a year to put fourteen thousand three hundred 
pounds at the King's disposal. 1 He had already sacrificed his 
life in a preliminary skirmish at Alford, in Hampshire. 2 Now 
his widow awaited the outcome of a struggle which, whoever 
won, seemed to promise nothing but the bleakest future. But 
for John, only the exciting present must have filled his mind. 

What boy worth his salt would not have thrilled at the 
steady beat of drums all day? London squares rang with the 
commands of officers drilling their homespun recruits; town 
criers hourly proclaimed the urgent necessity of furnishing 
men, money, and above all horses. The royal cavalry was 
considered the decisive arm and Roundheads knew they must 
be prepared to meet Charles' professional officers in a 
mounted charge. The House of Commons gave this top 
priority. "Horses!" "Saddles!" "Horses!" recur as a never- 
ending leit-motif in Proceedings and Orders of the Day. 

John saw private coaches left standing in mews and court- 
yards as their animals were seized for army use; carters and 
farmers coming into London were stopped and forced to hand 
over their steeds. Sometimes the Lord Mayor in velvet robes 
and silver lace would go in stately procession on foot to a 
Company dinner; and the little boy caught a glimpse of 
municipal magnificence almost regal in its pomp and color. 
Every day brought some stirring scene with actors to play 



CIVIL WAR f 7 

their parts; it was like a continuous historical pageant, in- 
finitely more entertaining than Holinshed's long-winded 
chronicles they had read to him at home. 

By pushing his way into the Guildhall one day, John could 
have listened to that man of tragic destiny, Sir Harry Vane, 
Puritan son of the King's own Secretary of State. This young 
firebrand whose solemnity belied his extremist views on God 
and politics, had been Governor of Massachusetts when only 
twenty-four, and was now pursuing a reckless policy of con- 
stitutional revolution. His Guildhall speech, if John really 
listened to it, would surely have placed him, in the boy's eyes, 
as "the enemy," for how was it possible to accuse one's sov- 
ereign of wrongdoing? As Harry Vane put it, Charles had 
done a very wicked thing to take up arms against his people. 
Were not the people themselves questioning King Charles' 
"divine right"; indicting him with their Grand Remon- 
strance, in terms such as never before in history had been 
addressed to an English monarch? 

Everything became much clearer when action cut this dis- 
cussion and the Roundhead Earl of Essex galloped up with 
the breath-stopping announcement that an attack on London 
could be expected any moment and 4,000 horses must be 
procured instantly! 

A tremendous hubbub swept the City, all officers and sol- 
diers were ordered to report at Parliament Yard in West- 
minster. John saw guns mounted on Tower Hill and Temple 
Bar, posts and chains set up in Covent Garden and in St. 
Martins-in-the-Fields, watch-houses and barricades from sub- 
urban Hyde Park Corner to St. James. Women and even little 
children dug ditches in Piccadilly and piled up earthworks 
at Lambeth and around Constitution Hill. 3 

What could a country lad, brought up with the simple 
teaching, Fear God, Honor the King, have thought of this 
spectacle of his monarch's proud capital thus engaged in 
flouting royal authority and preparing to oppose it with 
armed force? Something within him may have stirred, some 



8 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

instinct of loyalty, unfelt before but linked to him by a thou- 
sand mysterious associations with the remote past, transmitted 
from father to son through countless generations in the 
King's service. 

But while love of King and Country was a family tradition, 
John's immediate reaction was purely personal. For him the 
issue demanded participation. All his life he showed this 
same readiness to be "involved," to respond to any challenge. 
The sight of those children toiling for the enemy provoked 
his own instant resolve to serve the King. Or at least, so we 
may legitimately suppose. 

For when he returned to his mother that night his plans 
must have been laid. He had been to Branford! 4 (Brentford.) 
He had seen the royal army on its outskirts and the Parlia- 
mentarians waiting to oppose it. He had apparently reached 
his great decision to declare himself for the King. Soldiering 
was out of the questionhe was too young. But the daily 
Roundhead proclamations concerning dire need of horses 
and saddles prompted his own form of service. "For a small 
expression of his loyalty," as he later wrote King Charles, he 
decided to put enemy cavalry out of action, "by cutting the 
bridles and girts of the then parliament's horses." 5 

London next day awakened to the boom of distant guns. 
The Royalists, having stormed and occupied Brentford, were 
attempting to march on Hammersmith where the parlia- 
mentary ordnance lay, and take London by assault. At this 
new development, the Earl of Essex rode posthaste to report 
the situation at Westminster, but even as he spoke in the 
House, the artillery roar grew louder and drowned his words. 
Leaving the frightened Members he dashed out and galloped 
back across the parks in the direction of the guns. For Prince 
Rupert, taking advantage of a dense fog, had fallen un- 
expectedly on the Roundhead troops, who had a hard time 
holding the position and waiting desperately for replace- 
ments. 

All that night London poured out men. Every hour they 



CIVIL WAR f 9 

marched forth, lords and gentlemen and apprentices of the 
Trained Bands, 24,000 strong the biggest and best equipped 
force yet assembled. And in the dense fog it was easy for a 
young boy to keep up with the soldiers as they trudged west- 
wards along the Old Bath Road, yellow flares from smoking 
torches streaking their path towards the hamlet of Turnham 
Green. 

It was almost noon when John reached the destination. 
The fog was lifting, its acrid smell still filled the air, and to 
the boy's eyes all must have seemed disorder and confusion. 
There were acres and acres of soldiers spread over the com- 
mon; some already in battle rank, others still seeking position, 
like the column he had accompanied. Hazily, far off in the 
distance, was a glow of red. Those were the Royalists, his 
people; that was where his King must be. 

All around him he could distinguish Puritan coats and stiff 
black hats; parliamentary officers were moving among their 
men, talking in simple encouraging words. "Come, my honest 
brave lads, pray heartily and fight heartily and God will 
bless us/' 

The boy's fingers tightened around a knife. One can imag- 
ine him stealthily moving towards a group of army mounts 
tethered at a picket rail. There were no soldiers near him 
now, nobody would be watching the tall pale lad; they were 
listening to their officers, and some of them were on their 
knees praying. 

John was a country lad, used to horses. He surely knew 
how to nuzzle an animal, breathing a reassuring sound, gently 
taking its bridle. With deft movements of the knife he could 
hack at a saddle girth, damp with sweat and the soaking mist. 
He severed the strap, easing the saddle weight a little, then 
slit the bridle. Under his knowing hands the horse moved 
tranquilly unalarmed; John could go to work on another 
saddle. Soon, it too was out of action; he ruined a third. 
Normal fear would warn him to keep the horses between 
himself and the tents as he cautiously crept down the line, 



10 t THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

intent on his furtive sabotage. Suddenly figures appeared as 
from nowhere, soldiers closed in on him; rough hands pushed 
and pulled at him, blocking escape. He was passed from one 
group to another, shoved into an improvised guard-house, his 
hands and feet securely shackled, but there was no time to 
deal with him. Bugles were calling, shouted orders rang out, 
the entire camp was seized with movement with troops wheel- 
ing into line. 

The fog had finally lifted and a pale sun shone faintly over 
the two armies drawn up in battle array. On that icy morning 
of November 13th they stood opposite each other, eyeing 
their chances, measuring their strength. But no bugle sounded 
the advance; no standard bearer proudly waved his men to 
charge. 

The King knew that his small forces and light field artillery 
were hopelessly outmatched by the overwhelming numbers 
before him. All that bleak winter day they stood without ac- 
tion, each fearing to risk a decisive move, until at nightfall, 
the King sounded the retreat. The battle of Turnham Green 
was never fought. 

Yet the City won a bloodless victory over the Crown and 
little John Scott's fate was sealed. If King Charles could not 
take his own capital, the royal cause was ultimately lost, and 
John with it, for the triumphant Roundheads would show 
scant shrift to a camp follower caught destroying army saddles. 
In an age when every man, woman, or child was hanged for 
wilful damage involving as little as five shillings' worth of 
property, John's prank could well have cost him his life. 

He was brought before a parliamentary Committee to an- 
swer for his crime. Three separate times he faced his judges 
as they considered what to do. 

A kinsman of his, Sir Edward Scott, was at this time a mem- 
ber of Kent's Committee of Safety* a locally important posi- 
tion due probably to his county standing rather than to Party 
affiliation, for he was no Puritan. There is no evidence, how- 
ever, that he ever intervened in John's favor. Yet someone 



CIVIL WAR f 11 

in the family must have helped. For it is on record that 
five hundred pounds was paid to the Committee "to prevent/' 
as John phrased it later in his petition to Charles II, "further 
mischief.'* 7 

This was an immense sum in those days, an amount Mrs. 
Scott could not possibly have raised herself, with her estate 
already pledged by her late husband to Charles I. 

Whether this five hundred pounds was a fine, a bribe, or 
a recognizance demanded as security for her son's appearance 
before the Committee during sessions, is not clear. John called 
it a "gift." 

Followed several months of agonizing uncertainty, then 
sentence was finally passed. Banishment I 

Ten-year-old John was ordered to be sent to New England 
"under the tuition of one Downing." 8 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

1. Hutch. Pap., II, 104. 

2. LI. Lives, p. 668. 

3. Jours, of H. of C. f V, 419; CSP Ven., XXVI, 93. 

4. Hutch. Pap., II, 104. 

5. Ibid. 

6. Arch. Cant., XXI, 228-29. 

7. Hutch. Pap., II, 104. 

8. Ibid. 



CHAPTER II 



JOHN IS DEPORTED 



Maine ... "a countrie rather to affright, than delight 
one"! 

". . . We had a blowing and dangerous passage of it 
. . . and to tell you the very truth of it, for somedays upon 
land, after so long and tossing a passage, I was so giddy 
that I could hardly tread an even step; so that all things, 
both above and below, . . . appeared to me like the Kent- 
ish Britons to William the Conqueror in a moving posture." 
-George Alsop (1638-?), A Character 
of the Provinces . . . , p. 93. 



ALL THROUGH the blustery mid-spring of 1643, the little ship 
Seabridge battled her way across the Atlantic, her high decks 
awash as mountainous green waves swept her along a south- 
west course till she reached the Azores. There, her long- 
suffering passengers, battened down under hatches for safety, 
had a merciful respite from the cramped discomfort of their 
improvised qviarters and the mortal danger of being struck 
by their "unfixed goods" hurled from place to place by the 
giant seas. For a few blessed days they basked in sunshine, 
stretched their aching limbs till the dread moment came for 
returning to the dark hold. Then on and on they sailed again, 
into the wonder and peril of an empty sea, all sense of certi- 
tude once more left behind, till calmer water finally brought 
them staggering out on deck. There on the far horizon, their 
land-hungry eyes glimpsed the faint outline of the Maine 

12 



JOHN IS DEPORTED f 13 

coast, and they thanked God, on their knees, that the New 
World was actually in sight. 

The Seabridge, bound for Boston, was a sturdy little two- 
master, no bigger than a modern harbor trawler. She rode 
well, was all shape like a wineglass, and among her few score 
passengers there was one at least to whom ocean travel was 
no new experience. 

Emmanuel Downing, a wealthy London lawyer, was mak- 
ing his third Atlantic crossing. His interest in New England 
was almost proprietary for he was one of the principal finan- 
cial backers of that grave Puritan, John Winthrop, Boston's 
founder. 

But though willing to adventure his money Downing had 
felt little inclination, at first, to forsake his elegant London 
house and liveried servants for a pioneer's existence in a deso- 
late wilderness. His heart, however, followed his fortune, and 
in 1638 he finally dared the Great Migration, taking up his 
residence in Salem. Three years later when pressing colonial 
business necessitated someone's return to England he was the 
logical choice. Now, his mission accomplished, he was going 
back to Salem again in 1643, a seasoned traveller very well 
able to make himself comfortable on the ten weeks' voyage. 
With his private cabin on the poop deck, with his mattresses 
and bedding, his books and supplies of wine and beer, he 
could close his ears to the creaking timbers, the piercing pro- 
tests of frightened cattle in the hold, the groans and agonized 
retching of the seasick scurvy-wracked emigrants, who, de- 
voured by lice and tormented by dysentery, were stowed away 
in the limited space between the towering stern and fore- 
castle. Above all he could ignore the presence of some twenty 
children, temporarily under his charge. 

As former Attorney in the Court of Wards that special 
division for legislation involving minors Mr. Downing had 
been persuaded to look after these urchins who were being 
shipped to the colonies under circumstances about which 
official history has always been reticent. 



14 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

Traffic in children was the ugly by-product of an intrepid 
age when individual religious fervor did not exclude a star- 
tling lack of compassion. With ruthless logic, settlers noted 
that they lacked workhands and servants while English slums 
teemed with humanity living in filth and squalor unchanged 
since the Middle Ages. For centuries this unwanted popula- 
tion had been kept down by the Black Death which periodi- 
cally swept through Europe carrying off most of its victims 
from pestholes among the cities' destitute. But with the pas- 
sage of time the plague's virulence waned; it could no longer 
be counted on to maintain an equable balance between rich 
and needy; the Poor Rates rose alarmingly, and deportation 
of paupers was conceived as a means of relieving overcrowded 
parishes. 

Doubtless it all began innocently enough, with church 
collections taken up for poor little orphans, and bishops bless- 
ing the practice. But the whole system fell into such disrepute, 
children were kidnapped or stolen, their parents inveigled or 
bullied into selling them into what practically amounted to 
slavery that by 1645 legislation had to be devised concerning 
illegal traffic in human lives. 1 All of which New England mer- 
chants hotly contested under their national rights and "liber- 
tie to transport." 

The twenty children Emmanuel Downing was bringing 
over with him on this particular trip were, however, "allowed 
by Parliament," as John Winthrop noted in his diary; and 
one, he added, a scurvy victim "was withal very noisome and 
ill-disposed." 2 

But not all Downing's charges were in such a state. There 
was another whose condition and fortunes were wildly at 
odds with those of the cowed, ignorant ragamuffins among 
whom he found himself. His future, he was stoutly convinced, 
would be wholly different from theirs. The voyage, which 
held them quaking captives in their bunks, was, for him, high 
adventure. If we can judge from his subsequent known be- 
havior, there was certainly not an inch of the ship's surface 



JOHN IS DEPORTED f 15 

he did not explore, no sail nor bit of rigging he did not learn 
to name and handle. Sailors might curse him for being always 
underfoot, but his unquenchable curiosity and ready smile 
wrung from them answers as well as oaths. Orders to remain 
below he simply ignored; authority irked him and to flaunt 
it was his custom. At the first opportunity he was on the poop, 
or high in the crow's nest watching for French or Dutch 
pirates who had been known to attack emigrant ships, and 
whose appearance he doubtless longed for, his lively vanity 
aflame with half a dozen versions of his own daring in dealing 
with them. 

A sailor's life, in most boys' daydreams then, was the chosen 
vehicle for self-glorification, and John Scott, on the Seabridge 
at the age of eleven, was surely no exception to his kind. His 
first encounter with tilting decks and heaving seas doubtless 
fulfilled that pricking urge to play the hero which was to 
plague him all his life. It may have even proved a decisive 
part in determining his character and contributed to his rest- 
less need for change and excitement, desires that drove him 
to continuous travel. 

With the wind whistling round his ears, dreams of glory 
might well have kept up his courage, stopped any fearful 
wondering about life in the New World. But nights were 
different. Crouched in his narrow hammock in the suffocating 
darkness there must have been many a dreadful moment 
when John realized that he was exiled and alone. 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

1. CSP. Col., 23, Acts of Pr. Council, Scr. I, 92, 93; Pro. Debates of 
Parl.,l, 185-86. 

2. John Winthrop, Hist, of N. E., II, 184. 



CHAPTER III 

!()*- 

THE SCOTTS OF SCOT'S HALL 



"Scot's Hall shall have a fall; 
Ostenhangre was built in angre (pride); 
Somerfield will have to yielde; 
and Mersham Hatch shall win the match." 

Old Kentish Proverb. 



OF ALL THE DOCUMENTS that tell the story of John Scott there 
is one of particular interest among the time-blackened parch- 
ment scrolls of the Public Record Office in London. 

Officially indexed as Colonel Scott's Pardon, 1 it is written 
in court Latin, and is one of those Patent Rolls, in which, 
during the opening years of each monarch's reign, magnani- 
mous incoming Majesty reviewed past misdemeanors and 
punishments and quite frequently ceded to the intervention 
of interested friends powerful enough to elicit kingly benevo- 
lence. 

The royal pardon when it finally passed the seals, specifi- 
cally refers to him as "John Scott Esq., lately of Scot's Hall, in 
our county of Kent." It thereby refutes one of the most per- 
sistent slanders in John's wayward existence. For he had al- 
ways maintained his kinship with the Kentish Scotts of Scot's 
Hall, despite others' ill-intentioned denials. And although as 
son of a younger branch he certainly never lived in that stately 
pile, indeed, as a boy, may never have set foot in it, yet he 
drew unshakable reassurance from this firm knowledge of 
deep roots in English soil, and connection with a family 

16 



THE SCOTTS OF SCOT'S HALL f 17 

whose service to king and country extended over centuries. 
Much of his defiant conduct among the Puritans of the New 
World, and his unquenchable energy on returning to the 
Old, becomes comprehensible in the light of his background 
and tradition. 

For these Scotts were of an unusual historical vitality. 
Knights, not nobles, they furnished uninterruptedly warriors 
and statesmen to their country's service. There was Sir Wil- 
liam Scott, Lord Chief Justice of England under Edward II 
and III, Sir Edward Scott K.B. called to sit in judgment upon 
Charles I ... their very name is rooted in antiquity. Saxon 
in origin, a scot was the silver coin (sceattas) levied for drain- 
ing land; its use and meaning are as durable as taxes them- 
selves; lucky people still talk of going "scot-free." 

Today of course the Scotts are legion, but not all are of the 
Saxon breed. Scot's Hall Scotts claim such a strain, although 
the family as it concerns us here belongs to Kent at that, 
most Saxon of all the English counties. Fifteen hundred 
square miles of rolling country between the Thames Estuary 
and the English Channel, Kent is the gateway to Britain, the 
path of foreign invasion. Here came the Romans, the Nor- 
mans, the Spaniards, and men of Kent stood alert on their 
chalk cliffs ready for the invader. Here were the five ancient 
coastal defenses, the Cinque Ports; furnishing, at one time, 
most of the ships and men for the King's navy. Two Scotts, in 
different centuries, were Lord Wardens of the Cinque Ports, 
no less than five Scotts were Knights of the Shire, acting as 
Royal Land Surveyors and Sheriffs, rallying men and arms 
to fight their country's enemies. 

Uncounted Scott manors dotted the Weald a dense forest 
when the Romans landed and found Kent ruled by four 
separate Kings! North of the Weald stands Canterbury, with 
ancient Watling Street leading to London and the North. 
Chaucer's pilgrims passed this way to pray at the holy shrine, 
and many a traveller found hospitality at Scot's Hall, "a 



18 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

goodly mansion set in a vast park," as Evelyn wrote in his 
Diary. 

How much of his family's history was known to our John 
Scott banished from his native land and on his way to an 
unknown destiny in 1643? Probably not very much. He was 
only eleven when the good ship Seabridge took him to the 
New World. He might have heard about his namesake, John 
Le Scot, the Palatinate Earl of Chester, for to this premier 
peer of the realm fell the honor of carrying the sword of 
state the Curtana at royal coronations, and small boys re- 
member stories about splendid swords. John Le Scot proudly 
bore it when Henry III was crowned, but was the last Chester 
ever to do so. As Saxon noble, whose pre-Conquest status 
gave him very special privileges, he aroused the envy of his 
ambitious King, and when he died in 1244, Henry III seized 
his lands and title, bestowing both upon his own son, the 
Prince of Wales, who holds them to this day. There were 
other Scots whose fate was not dissimilar, whose possessions 
were taken by jealous overlords. 

Most famous of them all was John Baliol, King of Scotland. 
According to both Kentish historians, Hasted and Philipott, 2 
the Scotts of Scot's Hall at Brabourne and Smeeth are lineal 
descendants of the now extinct family of Baliol, and through 
it of the Scottish kings (of the Malcolni-Cranmore line). The 
Baliol family merged with Scot through William Baliol Le 
Scot, last surviving close relative* of that tragic John, chosen 
by England's Edward I to rule over Scotland. 

John Baliol was the second Scott to lose everything in a 
historic clash with a mightier power. For in the Wars of the 
Scottish Successionthat bloody feud involving Baliol and 
BruceEdward I vanquished all claimants and seized the 
throne himself, triumphantly carrying off to Westminster the 
symbol of victory, the sacred Stone of Fate, the Scone Seat 
itself! 



* Brother or cousin? hotly disputed by historians. 



THE SCOTTS OF SCOT'S HALL f 19 

Proscribed Baliols changed their surname and disappeared; 
and after the fourteenth century no Scott rose above the 
status of landed gentry. Scotts might marry daughters of an 
Earl or Duke, but each earned his knighthood for himself. 

On board the Seabridge, during that interminable cross- 
ing, our John might possibly have recalled these tales and 
remembered those knightly marble figures on the family 
vaults which he had certainly seen in Brabourne parish 
church, or in the Scot Chapel at Smeeth, that little village in 
East Kent he later listed as his home. 

On many a Sunday as the sermons droned on, John could 
gaze at Scott effigies and read the family details. 

"To perpetuate the memory of Monseigneur William Bal- 
iol Le Scot," runs a wall memorial tablet you can see it still 
today. That was an early one, England was still under French 
influence, for William Baliol Le Scot died in 1313. 

The memorial brass of another Sir William decorates a 
polished black marble slab in the chancel floor a brass such 
as any small boy would prize, for it shows a knight in full 
armor with "guarded" spurs, for this Sir William had been 
sword-bearer to Henry V and fought at Agincourt. Another 
Sir John Scott is buried in the Chancel a man of many 
professions. He toiled over the daily accounts of King 
Edward IV, whose Household Comptroller he was; he was 
Marshall of Calais, England's beachhead on the Continent 
when war threatened with France a war he helped to avert 
by negotiating a truce with Louis XL 

Over his once sumptuous tomb still hangs a crested trophy- 
helmet, flanked by sword and banner. These belonged to Sir 
Thomas Scott, one of the most illustrious of his name. His 
properties stretched into three counties in his day a Scott 
could ride from Smeeth to London and never leave his own 
land; he was deputy-lord-lieu tenant of the county and 
planned its coastal defenses under constant threat of Spanish 
invasion. At the time of the Great Armada, he commanded 
the Kentish forces, serving under the Earl of Leicester, who, 



20 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

for such staunch service, suggested to Queen Elizabeth that 
he be raised to the peerage. 

But tradition has it that Elizabeth petulantly remarked 
Sir Thomas already possessed more influence in Kent than 
Majesty herself. And withheld the title. 

An earlier Thomas Scott found no burial in Brabourne 
but achieved a kind of immortality all his own. For he was 
that Cardinal Archbishop of York 3 in Shakespeare's Richard 
III (Act II, Sc. 4) who twice befriended Edward IV's hapless 
Queen Elizabeth, and, standing alone between her and the 
London mob, persuaded her to take sanctuary in Westmin- 
ster Abbey, depositing with her, as guarantee of his protec- 
tion, the Great Seal of England an act of daring champion- 
ship for which Richard later imprisoned him in the Tower- 
Like their men, the Scott women were a hardy breed, well 
favored and full of vitality, but loss and disaster did not spare 
their beauty. Nowhere, as on the distaff side, did the ancient 
prophecy of downfall find such complete fulfillment. 

Caste stamps its children indelibly in England, and our 
John carried his heritage in his blood. Sitting in the soft 
gloom of the ancient churches he was one with his ancestors; 
arms or the law had beckoned innumerable Scotts, the record 
of their lives was everywhere about him. 

But slowly the family fortunes waned as the old proverb 
foretold "Scot's Hall shall have a fall." It had been muttered 
for a century though only one Scott gave it any attention. 
Reginald or Reynold, first cousin to "Armada" Scott, hardly 
rates a line in the Memorials, yet his life was marked by 
that flamboyance that streaked so many a Scott career. For 
he published a book whose first edition shook England to 
its foundations, was publicly burnt by the common hangman 
and years later received a rebuttal by no less a writer than 
King James I himself. 

The work immemorially connected with Reynold's name 
is entitled: The Discovery of Witchcraft, 4-to, London, 1580, 
reprinted in 1651 and again in 1655. 



THE SCOTTS OF SCOT'S HALL f 21 

A century in advance of his time, the writer pleaded for 
more humane treatment of the poor creatures burnt as 
witches, but whose rantings against Henry VIII's Reforma- 
tion were frequently inspired by its religious opponents, 
afraid to speak out themselves. The verse they mouthed about 
Scot's Hall, did it not predict the downfall of Henry VIII's 
supporters? Were not all the Scotts office-holders under the 
King? while the owner of Mersham Hatch, destined to "win 
the match," was he not the only related Scott who still ac- 
knowledged papal supremacy? 

Reynold's speculations showed keen political insight, but 
his Christian compassion offended scholars and unlettered 
alike. In his day the reality of witches was unquestioned, and 
his book was universally condemned. Even after its public 
burning James I continued to fulminate against its author, 
and the King's own book, Demonology, published in 1597, 
was written mainly to "refute the errors of that damnable 
heretic Scot." 

The Scott doom, traced to its source as a bit of popish 
propaganda, gained popular belief. The downfall was slow, 
for the steady drain on family fortunes was concealed at first 
beneath splendid happenings. 

No less than three Scotts accompanied Henry VIII to that 
memorable encounter known as the Field of Cloth of Gold, 
where, in unparalleled display, without precedent even in 
that glittering age, the faithful entourage cheerfully ruined 
themselves for rich adornment to do honor to their King. 

The Scott income was somewhat restored during the sober 
management of the great Sir Thomas, but after his death, 
more than thirty manors in Kent alone were sold to provide 
for his seventeen children. The Civil War brought terrible 
financial losses, particularly to the King's side and the Scotts 
were royalists to a man. 

How many years does it take a name to die? Little John 
Scott had no answer to this grim question as day by day the 
Seabridge bore him nearer his American destination. Slowly 



22 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

and surely he sailed toward a fate he could, perhaps, have 
avoided, but from which, given his temperament and tradi- 
tion, there was small chance of escape. And, all things con- 
sidered, it was curiously like so much which had happened 
before. 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

1. Patent Roll C, 66, 3384, 28. 

2. Vill. Cant., p. 131; Arch. Cant., XXI, 222-29. 

3. Accounts of presents (exennis) given to Archbishop of York, Thomas 
Scott of Rotherham, HMC Montague-Beverley, p. 170; Harleian 
Soc. Pub. (Visitation of Bedford), XIX, 49, 191. 



CHAPTER IV 



SALEM 



"If Salem meant peace and liberty to Endicott's and Hig- 
ginson's way of thinking, it meant oppression for others." 
Samuel Eliot Morison, The Builders 
of the Bay Colony, p. 40. 



As THE Seabridge neared the end of its journey and prepared 
to dock, the children were given special attention. 

They were ordered on deck, a barber cut their hair, and 
two of the most pitiable looking boys were furnished with 
wigs. 

"Boston," wrote John Scott some years later, "arched into 
the sea on piles so that the ships come up to the doors," 1 and 
this single sentence makes vivid the scene which probably 
greeted the passengers. Townsfolk crowded out to welcome 
the new arrivals and watch the goods unloaded, while a few 
men started sizing up the human cargo with knowledgeable 
eyes and sharp interest. They asked questions, felt muscles, 
estimated each child's capacity for work. 

Mr. Downing hovered around, talking to a four-man com- 
mittee* charged with disposing of the children, collecting the 
monies paid for them, procuring beds for those who found 
no immediate master. 2 To little John the business might have 
seemed somewhat strange, but soon a man leading two horses 

* These were: Mr. Glover, Mr. Russell, Ensign Weld, and Mr. Edwd. 
Tynge. Mass. Records II, 45. 

23 



24 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

met them, and Boston was quickly left behind, John riding 
pillion with Downing's servant. 

During the next two days the horses picked their way 
slowly over rough trails through endless forest, the trees so 
straight and tall that the lowest branches were high above 
their heads. Among clearings tall rank grass and massive 
bramble patches made the going difficult, while there were so 
many waterways to ford, or get around, that John must have 
grown sore and weary and longed for home, wherever that 
was going to be. 

But fatigue was forgotten on entering Salem. This was a 
compact little village on a rocky promontory jutting to the 
northwest between two other settlements, which, the servant 
told him, were Marblehead and Beverley. At the time John 
first glimpsed it, the inhabitants numbered about a thousand. 
Densely forested hills dropping down to stony beaches cupped 
the great bay, where pinnaces and shallops rocked in safety; 
the many inlets were alive with Indian-type canoes. From the 
neck of the peninsula a causeway stretched to Winter Island; 
Fort Pickering, newly erected, mounted guard to the north. 
Crowded wharves rang with the noise of shipwrights' ham- 
mers; two thriving taverns sold wine and strong ale at a penny 
a quart. 

The horses, knowing they were home, quickened their pace 
and turned into crooked Essex Street, heart of the town's ac- 
tivity. Downing rode ahead, greeting citizens from time to 
time, glancing right and left to note what houses had been 
built during his absence in England. There were now about 
four hundred in all, with gaping lots or small patches of corn 
and beans between them. Most of the "Common" was a sort 
of swamp, but further along stood a market place, and little 
"cent shops" homes whose front rooms displayed goods for 
sale, "carsey wastkotts, pettycoats" and the like. At an inter- 
section of Essex rose the First Church, white and bare, its nail- 
studded oak door chained and locked. Outside were the heavy 
wooden stocks, the grim whipping post, for public punish- 



SALEM f 25 

ment, a pillory where "premeditated" liars stood, their 
tongues thrust through a cleft stick. 

To John, fresh from the Old World, the place must have 
seemed bleak and empty, but to its inhabitants Salem was one 
of the most flourishing centers of the whole New England 
Commonwealth, a model among the tiny independent settle- 
ments clinging precariously to a strip of coast between an 
impenetrable forest and the pounding Atlantic. 

In less than twenty years, the handful of Salem colonists 
had transformed a few Indian clearings into a comparatively 
prosperous community already subdividing into several town- 
ships. Gone were the days when the first planters had bur- 
rowed into earthen pits against the relentless rain and cold. 
Forgotten were the primitive sod-roofed dugouts and wig- 
wams they had first erected, the days and nights of gnawing 
hunger, the scurvy and smallpox that had riddled their ranks. 
Now their saw-pits were busy all day turning out solid oak 
beams and planks for sturdy buildings; their timbered, white 
plastered homes with beautiful doorways and many gables re- 
called some of the elegance of their native Tudor style. 

By 1643 Salem could boast a roaring shipping trade; it had 
weathered its religious dissensions and little political contro- 
versies and had become a pleasant place to live in. Like other 
towns in the Commonwealth it was beginning to loosen ties 
with England: by the time John Scott arrived, Massachusetts 
had already abolished the oath of allegiance to the Crown, and 
had established the political framework for practical inde- 
pendence. 

***** 

After a good night's sleep and a breakfast of roast pigeons 
John was ready to explore the comfortable farm where Down- 
ing lived. Life in the colonies might have its compensations. 
His tutor, he learned, was a man of privilege, married to Lucy 
Winthrop, the governor's sister. He was a great sportsman and 
had laid out a private game preserve with two ponds for the 
decoy ducks he had just introduced. 



26 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

Alas, John's enjoyment of this pleasant estate was short- 
lived. Almost immediately Downing went to visit his old 
neighbor, Lawrence Southwick, taking his small charge with 
him. The two men talked long in low tones, eyeing John all 
the time with such intensity that the boy felt he was up for 
sale. As indeed he was. 

For a given sum, Lawrence Southwick agreed to take over 
from Emmanuel Downing one John Scott, deportee, until the 
latter attained his majority, to teach him to read and write; 
and to make him master of a trade. 

Shortly thereafter, the General Court at Boston invited 
Downing to give the customary accounting of what children 
he had taken into the ship with him, and get a receipt for 
what had been paid into the Treasury. 3 This turned out to be 
a considerable sum, and conceivably, John's five hundred 
pounds were part of it. The Records show that a Goodman 
Turner was allowed one hundred pounds of the Children's 
Money; that the sergeants should have twelve pounds out of 
the same fund; and that Mr. Dunster, President of Harvard, 
should have a hundred and fifty pounds for his college out of 
the money due the children sent out of England. 4 

In the case of foundlings or paupers such procedure might 
have seemed natural. But for a Scott to be sold as a bonded 
servant must have been a shock. 

This then was the way Downing fulfilled his trust! Rage 
filled the boy's heart and resentment at his treatment never 
left him. Nearly twenty years afterwards the memory of it 
still made him furious, and in a petition to the King of Eng- 
land he charged that Downing "had dealt with him most per- 
fidiously/' 5 

Now, powerless to resist, friendless, alone, he had no other 
course but to do as he was ordered. With his hair cropped 
close to his skull to mark his lowly status, he entered the 
Southwick household, a menial in a society that was still 
harshly class-conscious. 

The Southwicks were North Country people from Lancas- 



SALEM f 27 

ter, originally a county family, with a coat of arms dating 
from 1275. But hard times had driven Lawrence to America 
in 1627. He returned to England later to fetch his wife, Cas- 
sandra, and their two small children. They probably took the 
Mayflower on its second or third trip in 1628-29, traveling 
with William Bradford, the historian, and John Endicott, 
who were bringing more colonists to join Salem's pioneers. 

Colonial records show that Southwick applied for freeman- 
ship in 1630, but it was not until September, 1639, that he 
and his wife were admitted to Salem's First Church and be- 
came eligible to vote. The Southwicks accepted the franchise 
with no great grace; like many other "old planters" they were 
hostile to the Governor's religious autocracy, and were soon 
to declare themselves Quakers. 

A few years before John's arrival, Lawrence had built a 
house on Main Street and had begun manufacturing glass- 
on the famous Glass Fields but he did not have sufficient 
capital to ride out the prevailing depression, and soon aban- 
doned the works. 

He was then appointed to the distinguished office of Cow- 
keep. This was a full-time most necessary task and the cow- 
herd was a town functionary under bond. The work was no 
sinecure: wolves prowled and there were Indians around, 
friendly enough but always ready to steal. Constant disputes 
and lawsuits over property damage enlivened the job but 
Southwick must have been a likable fellow for he figures 
frequently in local wills, receiving small legacies of money, an 
animal or a "spott" of meadow. 

The Town Records speak of a Joseph Scott as cowherd, too; 
there is no mention of a John. Yet, if a rankling memory is 
evidence, our John had to assist his master with the cattle. 
Years later, while being entertained by members of the Bos- 
ton General Court, he was accosted by one Thomas Joy, him- 
self of humble birth, who asked him loudly if he had not 
once "kept cows/' For this impertinence, John boxed his ears 
twice and lodged a formal complaint with the Commissioners, 



28 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

who, judging the insult provocative, fined the fellow "200 Ib 
(sic) and bound him over for good behavior." 6 

Even without the hated cow shift, John's life would not 
have been very happy. There was too little fun in the South- 
wick household for a boy's taste, and he was not old enough 
to appreciate the family's solid worth. Of the five children, 
when John Scott came to join them, the eldest, John, was 
twenty-three and they ranged down to little Daniel, and 
daughter, Provided. Large and well built as their house was, 
according to the times, with its projecting second story and 
steep roof sloping almost to the ground behind, it must have 
seemed pretty bare to a Kentish Scott. 

The upper rooms held one or two beds of imposing size 
for the seven inhabitants (John probably had a straw sack in 
a niche near the narrow stairway), but the heart of the place 
was the "Create Room" downstairs, filled with all the cease 
less activity of pioneer life. 

From the blackened rafters hung smoked hams, strings ot 
dried peppers, herbs, apple rings and such; at the end, a huge 
fireplace with seats each side, equipped with every kind of 
pothook, trammel, or hanger, with swinging crane and heavy 
spit, which small boys had to turn when meats were roast- 
ing. Handwrought andirons held the immense logs, and woe 
betide the lad who let the fire go out in winter. 

In the Create Room no one was ever idle, as John immedi* 
ately discovered. Cassandra and her eldest daughter spun 
flax, wove it into coarse cloth, bleached and dyed it, then 
made it into clothes for the whole family. Even the smallest 
children helped in the seasonal candle-dipping and soap mak- 
ing, fetched water for the vast periodic washdays, stirred 
great bubbling pots of fat. Making and baking bread, salting 
meat and fish in the "powder-tubs" as well as the daily cook- 
ing, naturally fell to the women, but the men brewed and 
bottled birch beer, helped scour the heavy wooden trenchers, 
the leather milkpails and pewter vats. 

Round the walls ran shelves and cupboards; there was a 



SALEM | 29 

iarge dresser, a capacious chair for Lawrence and stools for 
Lhe rest of the family. All else was luxury, and the South- 
wicks did not believe in luxury. What furniture there was, 
Lawrence and his sons fashioned, as well as all the implements 
for working their clearing. One had to be carpenter, mason, 
blacksmithto toil as farmer, tanner, and rude mechanic. 
John's training was thorough, if rough. He became a seasoned 
settler, competent to deal with any emergency; exalted per- 
haps by the thought of all that was being accomplished in a 
new land, or rebellious amid employments which never 
ceased. 

At the far end of the room was a refectory table where 
grownups sat on a bench while hungry children waited their 
turn for a bite. How insipid were the Indian dishes of sup- 
pawn and samp thick cornmeal porridge, or unparched corn, 
beaten and boiled to a mush young people's daily fare! But 
Salem air was sharper than anything John had known at home 
and doubtless his longhandled hornspoon dipped into the 
common platter as heartily as the rest. Sometimes there were 
stews hotch-potchand on holidays a bit of spitted meat. 

After supper Lawrence read the Bible and the others 
gathered around, making brooms, weaving baskets, whittling 
loom-spools, sap-buckets, latches, all the things they made of 
wood. Night after night the ritual never varied. Almost 
against his will John absorbed something of the Southwicks' 
religious fervor. Whatever his thoughts in those first years of 
interminable family worship the habit of prayer and medita- 
tion became his for life, no matter how belied by occasional 
wild behavior. His letters and writings reveal the serious bent 
of his nature the "creature of celestial extract" as he put it, 
who should "ever be looking upwards from whence he came. 1 ' 
Such an attitude came only slowly, there was too much re- 
bellion in his heart at first for the Southwicks 1 piety to prevail. 

Sunday brought a respite from never-ending chores and 
seemed the longest day of all. Morning and afternoon there 



SO f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

were services at the meetinghouse, with heavy fines for non- 
attendance and sermons lasting hours. Inside all was bare and 
white-washed. No memorial brasses or monuments here to 
stir the imagination; no vestments or rich hangings, not a 
gleam of color to delight the eye; Puritans were only too glad 
to forget the "pope-tainted" effigies. Instead of stately prayers 
and the elaborate singing of choral music, John heard the 
preacher's high nasal whine and the congregation's drone, 
"lining-out'* the psalms. Poetry and parish churches were 
among the loveliest products of his seventeenth century Eng- 
land: a young boy might not know these things and still feel 
pretty homesick those Salem Sundays in the bleak meeting- 
house. 

Even legitimate excuses for jollity, the annual Fairs, pro- 
vided little fun. Villagers from far and near came to sell their 
farm goods, occasions which in England would have been 
celebrated with lusty drinking, dancing, and, for the older 
boys, a bit of sport with a willing wench. 

In Salem the atmosphere never relaxed. All dancing was 
strictly forbidden in John's day, and servants were punished 
for daring to approach any of the opposite sex. To a fun- 
loving boy like John bigotry could go no further. 

Yet what twelve-year-old could possibly have grasped the 
passionate convictions of these Puritans who set out to create 
a Bible Commonwealth and whose dauntless courage con- 
quered a wilderness and carried the seed of political liberty 
into a new continent? 

The recent translation of the Bible into the English ver- 
nacular had revolutionized their minds, setting them aglow 
with the loftiest ideals and a strange self-importance,* filling 
their everyday speech with a wealth of apt phrases and pithy 
proverbs. To those literal-minded Englishmen the Old Testa- 
ment was a divine statute book in which they sought not only 
principles but mandates, and found a Godlike approval for 



Puritans believed that God had selected New England as their chosen 
land. "This place is appointed me of God." Win. Pap. Journal I, p. 7. 



SALEM f 31 

everything they did. And if the Hebrew scripture's harsh 
spirit led them into excesses, they humbled their pride and 
were ready to admit their errors. Not, however, before they 
had done irreparable harm to others, and John was to see the 
whole Southwick family suffer bitterly from Puritan decrees 
and ultimately be banished from the colony under pain of 
death. 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

1. Col. Pap. Gen. Ser. f XXI, 345-47 (notes relating to Massachusetts). 

2. Mass. Rec. f II, 45. 

3. Ibid., 89. 

4. Ibid., 83, 84 (Nov. 13th, 1644). 

5. Hutch. Pap., II, 104. 

6. N.Y. Hist. Soc. Coll (Vol. 1869), II, 47 (Clarendon Papers). 



CHAPTER V 

-(]>- 
JOHN'S EDUCATION 



"How harde wyll it be for one browghte yp amonge 
boockes and learned to lyve in a barbarous place where is 
no learnynge and less cyvillytie." 

A letter to John Winthrop before he sailed 
for New England. 



As JOHN GREW OLDER life became more irksome; petty restric- 
tions and duties permitted no real outlet for his restless vi- 
tality. He was far too intelligent not to be aware of the real 
opportunities for advancement and prosperity the New World 
offered, and the ready initiative he had displayed even as a 
little boy must have suggested a dozen likely projects. But 
for him there was no bright horizon. Work as he might with 
other men clearing the stubborn soil of rock and roots, the 
acres he planted would never be his; not a single possession 
rewarded his wearisome toil. And of all the harsh circum- 
stances about him, none could have been more hateful to his 
awakening manhood than the inability ever to exercise his 
own free choice. From morning to night he was told what 
to do. 

No love or warmth of affection softened the difficult years 
from boyhood to adolescence; the New England conscience 
precluded all show of feeling and his eager outgoing nature 
met no response. This forbidding atmosphere was something 
he could not penetrate for it effectively quenched that spark 
of insight through which he might have achieved a more 

32 



JOHN'S EDUCATION f 33 

sympathetic understanding of his surroundings. Days were 
always too busy for boyish daydreaming or all the little un- 
important things that make up a happy childhood; and in 
the midst of a large family his solitude was almost complete. 

At odds with himself, young Scott in Salem was also at 
odds with the world he lived in, for it was impossible for 
him to forget he was among the enemy. At heart he remained 
a Royalist, while around him were Roundheads who had 
fought his King, killed his father and sold him into bondage. 
They had deliberately sought this life and made it to their 
liking; to him it was exile. 

Escape was, however, impossible. Beyond the Southwick 
home was a wasteland a geological "divide," its barren hills 
gashed with rock and glacial remains that are visible still. 
In other directions Indian trails led into endless forests. 
Boston was two days away, and who had time or money for 
such a trip? 

A welcome break in the dreary round was the eight days 
with the militia that claimed even servants every year. From 
the age of ten, boys were trained to handle half pikes, bows 
and arrows, guns. 1 The rough camp and rougher usage were 
a far cry from the glamorous role John had assigned him- 
self at Brabourne, but he learned his lesson well, and laid 
the foundation for a useful profession. 

And always there was the seal Like a magnet it drew him, 
to watch the tide surge with a roar into the Neck at Marble- 
head, where it seethed and boiled and threw up waves fifty 
feet high. Or from some bold cliff to gaze out on the ocean, 
his mind afire with thoughts of its immensity and danger 
and the chance for adventure. He slipped off to the wharves 
to pick up gossip from new arrivals. Salem's outer bay was 
always full of foreign ships; salty sailors from Virginia, mer- 
chants from Europe, all brought news of the great world. 

Once in a while sun-blackened buccaneers swaggered 
through the town, gold earrings dangling, their wide short 
breeches belted with a strip of hide, knives, or cutlass and 



34 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

powder horn thrust through the leash. To a boy who all his 
life was to crave excitement, their lure was irresistible. These 
men John followed with frantic interest. He would edge 
nearer as they swigged buttered rum in taverns, bragging of 
their latest adventures. Fearsome oaths sprinkled their talk 
of Spanish merchantmen overpowered by their long low 
swift-sailing sloops, looted and abandoned; of ways to beat 
the trading laws; of English colonial governors who winked 
at their exploits, gave them privateering commissions, let 
them sell their spoils in Jamaica, Porto Rico, Trinidad. 
There was always the excuse that if they did not, then the 
Dutch in Curasao would profit by the plunder. Did not 
the rich prizes attract traders to the islands? And was not the 
outfitting of freebooters itself a great industry? John's eyes 
widened at the revelations; boldly he questioned them 
further, drinking in their talk. 

Even in pious Salem such characters went uncensured. No 
beadle ever stopped them as they puffed their pipes, though 
ordinary mortals were fined a shilling for daring to "drink 
tobacco" in public; even their most audacious deeds abroad 
found no condemnation in port. 

Spanish colonial policy had acquired such a reputation for 
murderous cruelty and oppression that anyone who assailed 
it seemed to be an avenger of innocent victims. To Puritans, 
Spain was the arch enemy who burned Protestants at the 
stake, so even churchmen could argue that these daredevils, 
however questionable their calling, were still striking a blow 
at antichrist. A bit of casuistry not without influence on an 
impressionable lad, who was later to follow in their footsteps 
and then to reflect in his writings upon the Spirit of Ad- 
venture for Profit! 

To drag himself from such colorful creatures and walk 
Salem's streets and market place was to return to another, 
drabber world. Yet even here an occasional Indian, like some 
gaudy bird of paradise would flit by, his savage finery off- 
setting his sharp glance and gliding gait. Skins of bear or 



JOHN'S EDUCATION f 35 

beaver flowed from one shoulder, bright hummingbirds 
made ear pendants, elaborate tattooing decorated faces of 
inscrutable gravity. These were the great landowners, these 
were the true aristocrats whose estates covered a continent. 
To John they could never be just savages! No one who held 
that much land could fail to impress a Scott. 



Not all his formative years were at the mercy of casual 
contacts. Much as John's untapped energies drove him to 
seek outside interests, one consolation he could always find 
at home. Lawrence Southwick may have been a hard task- 
master, but he was a man of his word, and he had agreed to 
teach John to read. Actually this was not necessary, for a boy 
of John's condition had certainly had a year or so at grammar 
school, and some knowledge of Latin. But the promise stood, 
and presumed a certain amount of time for reading. Formal 
education was, of course, out of the question. But the South- 
wicks were gentlefolk; they were intelligent, their talk en- 
lightening. Recorded testimony in local lawsuits shows that 
even Cassandra was highly literate with an alert mind ready 
for precise argument, though her tongue was somewhat sharp. 
John learned to hold his own in conversation no matter with 
whom he came in contact. Books were always within reach; 
there were not many, for ship space was far too precious for 
settlers to bring over their libraries, they had to make a 
drastic choice. But their selection, judged from old in- 
ventories, was sound, and as years passed they sent to Europe 
for more. 

Everyone had a Bible, of course. John heard this read aloud 
each evening; its rhythm and construction ring through his 
own prose. Histories and classics were the greatest favorites: 
Plutarch's Lives, Ovid's Metamorphoses; Machiavelli's Prin- 
cipe and The Advancement of Learning by Bacon, were all 
available in Salem in John's time. The General Hystery of 
the Netherlands; Turkish Histery; Commentarys of ye Warrs 



36 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

in France; England's Heroicall Epistles, a boy could learn 
a lot about the world from such volumes. Hakluyt's Voyages 
found in so many homes he must have read again and 
again, for his own "Rela<;on on the Battle of St. Christo- 
phers," written in 1667 2 recalls that other writer's trenchant 
geographical observations laced with personal tidbits which 
make a country and an epoch live. 

A book which may have had some effect upon his thinking 
was the Swedish Intelligencer, included in one of the Salem 
libraries of the period. It could have opened up a vision of 
government agent work in foreign countries, for John was 
to prove himself a born reporter. In the Preface of his own 
Histories 3 now preserved in the British Museum, and the 
Bodleian Library, he wrote: 

"I made it my business likewise to purchase or borrow all 
the histories and journals that I could hear of whether Latin, 
Italian, Spanish, or Portuguese, French, Dutch or in any 
language. . . ." 

He admits he was not master of most of these languages, 
but to learn them got assistance from natives of the different 
countries he met on his travels, or from Englishmen who 
spoke them and who could help him. Books appealed to him 
primarily for the light they threw on experience. Always he 
related what he had read to his own ardent observations; his 
interest and curiosity about life in general never left him. 
In one of his writings he tells of questioning for days two 
prisoners he held on a Caribbean voyage, pumping them 
about places they had visited and getting out of them every- 
thing they knew. 

"About the Eighteenth year of my age," he wrote (i.e. while 
still a Salem apprentice) "I took up a resolution to make 
America the scene of the greatest actions of my life. Thereto 
I set myself a work, if possible, to find out the Latitudes and 
the Longitudes of all places" (the latter were not only then 
unknown but considered, by some scholars, unknowable) 
"both on the continent and in the Islands ... as also the 



JOHN'S EDUCATION t 37 

names of what Persons and of what Nations . . . who pos- 
sessed them . . . and how these Colonies have prospered or 
declined in Trade . . ." 

This was a very important decision. For the first time 
John saw no contradiction between his American sojourn, 
however enforced, and becoming "both of some reputation 
to myself, and a General advantage to the English nation." 

Some time during these early years he must have had 
leisure to practice the elaborate handwriting of the period, 
laboriously tracing between ruled lines decorative capitals 
and elegant lettering, with all the patience and application 
of a professional scribe. For even in an age of exquisite writ- 
ing, one of his royal petitions bears a note by the endorser: 
"the original from which this was copied is a most beautiful 
piece of penmanship/' 4 

It is possible also that about this time he first began making 
rough sketches of the maps which were to accompany his pro- 
posed great work. This he never finished. But his description 
of the items he had particularly in mind, "the rocks, land- 
shelves and soundings about every island, and in the entrance 
of all ports and havens/* show a scientific interest in such 
matters. 

An interest which well nigh ruined his historical reputa- 
tion. 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

1. Mass. Rec., II, 99; III, 268. 

2. CSP Col. Ser. Am. and W. I., 1661-68, No. 1524. 

3. SI. MS., 3662, Plut. C. II, G, ff 786-761. (The folio numbers run 
backwards since Scott's MS was, by an unfortunate accident bound 
upside-down with Byam's Extract Narrative of the State of Guiana. 
That the MS is Scott's cannot be doubted by any careful student. 
Not only does he clearly identify himself in the text, but the long 
personal Preface is signed with his name in full. That his authorship 
could ever have been doubted or overlooked is due to the circum- 
stance of binding.) 

4. Mass. Hist. Soc. Pro. (1867-69), 1st ser., X, 391. 



CHAPTER VI 

-^OS- 
DIFFICULT YEARS 



"The Quakers died not because of their other crimes how 
capital whatsoever, but upon the super-added presump- 
tuous and incorrigible contempt of authority." 

Governor Endicott to Charles II, CSP Col. 
Ser. Am. and W. I., 1661-68, No. 26. 



IT WAS JOHN'S FATE to be living with a family outspoken in 
its disapproval of Winthrop's highhanded influence on the 
Administration. Overlooking the Governor's exceptional gifts 
of leadership and organization, the Southwicks carped con- 
tinually on the inequalities which existed in Salem, the abuse 
of power by persons in high places, and, above all, the absence 
of real religious liberty. Freedom of conscience was, of course, 
the last thing Puritans were ready to grant. Freedom was 
only for those who thought as they, and the Southwicks were 
not in this category. 

From the moment of its foundation in London, the Society 
of Friends had caught the imagination of the Southwick 
family. To the austerity of Puritan living they soon added the 
Quakers' belief in personal guidance by an "inward light/' 
in vehement appeals to conscience, as well as in the sublime 
necessity of speaking out at all times to testify to their faith. 
One can only guess John's reactions to this new religion 
which must have seemed strangely confusing: he now found 
himself member of a family in almost perpetual defiance of 
the law. With all the zeal of the newly converted, the South- 

38 



DIFFICULT YEARS f 39 

wicks refused to abide by man-made decrees, paid no taxes, 
abstained from churchgoing, and claimed a special mission 
from heaven to rebuke their neighbors for bigotry and in- 
tolerance. Their outward meekness and irreproachable lives 
masked an independence regarded by Puritans as rank heresy. 

Such fanaticism spread rapidly through New England and 
the Southwick household became a Quaker center. Punitive 
legislation directed against Sectarians appeared as early as 
1646, but from the outset Quakers were hard to handle. To 
their very real piety they joined an emotional extravagance, 
part product of the century's intellectual ferment, but doubt- 
less due, as well, to years of Puritan suppression. How could 
the law deal with (and what indeed must John have thought 
of) a woman like Deborah Wilson, who cast off all her clothes 
and in broad daylight ran stark naked through proper Salem 
to symbolize, so she said, mankind's miserable condition? 
What of other Quakers who stalked the town smeared with 
ashes and human filth, calling loudly upon all men to repent? 
Nor was that all. Quakers so persistently defied Court rulings 
that they became suspected of sinister designs against the 
government itself. 

Theirs was a shattering example for a lad already tor- 
mented by thwarted ambition and resentful to the point of 
rebellion. Yet whatever John thought of their strange views 
and excesses, he could not but respond to the irresistible 
appeal Quakers exerted on all the disenfranchised, voteless 
citizens and indentured servants alike. The unfaltering cour- 
age of these "rebels of God" won his respect, opened his eyes 
to their spiritual quality and an independence undeterred by 
personal loss and bitter hardship. Theirs was an example that 
powerfully influenced his later life and was to determine the 
course of his most memorable decision. 

John never became a Quaker, his religion like his politics 
always had a middle-of-the-road quality. But the Southwicks 
left their stamp upon him. Quakers everywhere recognized it 



40 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

and befriended him; they remembered the noble family he 
had lived with and the merciless treatment accorded it. 

Lawrence and Cassandra were subjected to ruinous fines, 
ferocious whippings and repeated imprisonment. Their chil- 
dren, Provided and young Daniel, inspired by their example, 
deliberately stayed away from church, and, unable to pay the 
subsequent fines, were ordered to be shipped to the West 
Indies to be sold as slaves to raise the money! To Salem's 
honor not a captain would transport them,* and many towns- 
folk were ashamed of the brutal sentence. 

Evidently relations worsened, or the Southwicks were 
ruined, for in December 1647 Lawrence petitioned the Gen- 
eral Court for permission to dispose of John "as per covenant 
with Emmanuel Downing." And the Court ordered Lawrence 
to "put forth said Scott for three years to any honest man." 1 

That he should again be disposed of, till maturity, like a 
chattel, aroused afresh John's resentment against the per- 
fidious Downing. Though transfer of bond servants was not 
unusual, he saw it as intolerable insult. Such treatment he 
would not endure, and he ran away to sea. 

But Lawrence Southwick had no intention of relinquishing 
so valuable a piece of property; he had acquired the right to 
dispose of John for profit, and heavy penalties were exacted 
from runaway servants. The lad was picked up in port the 
following May (1648) and taken to Boston to answer for his 
escapade. His term of apprenticeship was extended to make 
up the period of his absence, and he was ordered to "satisfy 
his master to the amount of 35 shillings"; 2 this sum apparently 
being the costs for the suit. 

Present that day at the General Court of Election was Mr. 
Emmanuel Downing himself. He and John faced each other, 
possibly for the first time since Downing had brought him 
over from England. John was now sixteen, a tall slender 



* John Greenleaf Whittier's poem "Cassandra" recalls this moving incident, 
though with a poet's license, he uses the mother's beautiful name rather 
than the daughter's. 



DIFFICULT YEARS f 41 

youth with powerful shoulders and a shock of cropped brown 
hair. His eyes smoldered under bushy eyebrows, there was a 
hot glare in their gray depths as he stood defiantly in the 
dock, ready to pour out his grievances the moment he got a 
chance to speak, something the judge showed no intention 
of permitting. Downing liked his ease, and the sight of the 
boy may possibly have aroused a twinge of conscience. His 
own sons he had been reluctant to bring to America, fearing 
their education would suffer, yet he had not hesitated to con- 
demn this well-born lad to long years of service. Such disturb- 
ing thoughts he promptly banished by pushing on to the next 
bit of business the disposal of the defeated Pequot Indians' 
territories, with all their consoling opportunities for profit- 
able real estate development. 

The Southwick case was quickly disposed of and the Court 
adjourned after voting to John Winthrop, Junior, three 
thousand acres of Pequot land "near to the Narragansett 
country/' 

It was an odd coincidence that this grant should have been 
made on May 10th, 1648, the very day John was in the dock. 
For on the bench, among the magistrates and assistants, were 
Richard Bellingham, Simon Bradstreet, and Major Hum- 
phrey Atherton, the great Indian fighter, who had just de- 
feated the troublesome warlike Narragansetts, whose country 
offered speculators even greater rewards and profits. 

John returned to Salem with the Southwicks. He knew now 
he was powerless before the law; serve his time he must, and 
on the contract's humiliating terms. One good thing came of 
the incident: at least he did not have to change households. 
And when John himself came to write a contract for his own 
apprentice, Hallelujah Fisher, in 1665, he stated specifically 
that there should be one master only. 3 Not that this was much 
comfort to him in 1648. 

The treatment rankled and he would not remain silent. 
Before long he was hauled into court again, this time to be 
"admonished for profane cursing." 4 



42 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

All his subsequent life he vented his feelings in violent 
swearing. "Prodigious oaths" and blasphemies studded his 
conversation, and the exuberant force of his temperament 
led him into wild exaggeration, and "lavish extravagant ex- 
pressions/' as one contemporary wrote. Years of silence were 
erupting as his leashed vitality burst its bonds. 

The verbal explosion possibly cleared the atmosphere, for 
his pent-up energy led him into none of the offenses so com- 
mon among other indentured men. New England records are 
full of the punishments meted out to those who served their 
masters badly; who stole, lied, malingered, brawled or even 
attempted murder. No such charges mar John's reputation. 

But his choice of profession, once free, and the speed with 
which he hurled himself into a life so totally different from 
his bonded existence, give some indication of what went on 
in his mind and point to a spirited determination to wipe 
out hateful memories as violently as possible. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

1. Rec. of Quarterly Courts, Essex County, Mass. I, 130. 

2. Mass. Rec., II, 245; III, 131. 

3. Oy. Bay. TR., I, 17. 

4. Rec. of Quarterly Courts, Essex County, Mass. I, 180. 



CHAPTER VII 



WESTWARD HO! 



"A bolder race of men, both as to personal valor and con- 
duct, certainly never yet appeared on the liquid element 
or dry land." 

Alexandre Exquemeling, History of the 
Buccaneers of America (Preface). 



JOHN'S YEARS OF SERVITUDE came to an end at long last, but 
he received none of the land, cattle or money which most 
decent masters settled on their apprentices when their terms 
expired. By 1652 Lawrence Southwick was ruined and John 
had to shift for himself. 

Not for an instant did he hesitate in choosing a profession. 
There was one bold way to tempt quick fortune and slake his 
thirst for adventure; he went to sea. He set sail just as he had 
done before when he ran away, but this time there was no 
one to haul him back, and current conditions made the get- 
away easier. 

The Puritans, he knew, had not only settled New England 
but had planted colonies in the Caribbean where their godly 
principles were somewhat modified by the prevailing lawless- 
ness. 

Charles I had already given tacit consent to a little licensed 
freebooting by the Providence Company settlers in the Ba- 
hamas. Cromwell went even further. He issued letters of 
marque and reprisal to daring spirits finding their way into 
the Caribbean basin. So it was no trouble at all for John to 
get himself transported to the very heart of adventure. He had 

43 



44 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

only to hang around Salem Harbor till a ship was sailing in 
the right direction, talk himself aboard, and take the short- 
term service which was common usage in those days. 

From all the evidence available, he turned up in Tortuga 
the "Turtle" island at the head of the Windward Passage, 
an hour's easy sail from the main sprawl of Hispaniola 
(Haiti and San Domingo), a name etched on his mind since 
those chance encounters with buccaneers in the old Salem 
days. Here lived the freest of all free creatures completely 
their own masters, and brothers allroyal Navy men who had 
jumped ship, Cavaliers fleeing Cromwell's persecution, High- 
land Scots from debtors' prisons, Hollanders, with stark 
memories of the Inquisition. The bond between these 
"Brethren of the Coast/' as they called themselves, was hatred 
of oppression, their common enemy was Spain. Such social 
outcasts suited John's mood, life in this male paradise was 
entirely communal. John spent long days hunting the wild- 
running sharp-horned cattle, bringing down his quarry with 
deft use of dirk and knife, or with deadly musket aim. He 
learned to stretch the carcasses on greenwood hurdles 
boucans* (as the original French hunters named them) to 
smoke and cure the meat for the Haitian markets. 

In and out the myriad islands, John began to maneuver the 
little single-decked vessels or lean swift lateen-rigged craft; 
took to raiding the sea lanes with other buccaneers, shooting 
at Spaniards as well as wild boar. At nights or during the 
noon-haze heat, he shared the rigorous lookout, for thought 
of possible Spanish invasion sobered even the most reckless. 

From the shy friendly natives, the Arawaks, he picked up 
his first knowledge of an Indian language. He found their 
conversation "full of mirth and good humour," (as he wrote 
in his History of the Indians 1 ) and on closer acquaintance he 
came to relish their "witty jealous conduct." 



* These early Frenchmen on Tortuga who brought home the wild stock, 
called themselves Boucaniers from their principal occupation. The name stuck 
and swept round the world, bringing recruits. 



WESTWARD HO! f 45 

Tortuga, in its heyday, was certainly a unique experience 
and John, it seems, took to the life with gusto. Here was a 
society where a man proved his worth by sheer capacity and 
where those with a rancorous personal score to pay all the 
"Lutheran dogs and heretics" as Spain called them had a 
chance to discharge their long-stored hate. Here John's 
boundless energy, initiative, and dash of braggadoccio found 
a natural outlet among men quick to recognize a leader. 
Here for the first time he was "happy and successful" (as he 
later wrote to his King), 2 gaining experience as mariner and, 
inevitably, as fighter, for no one could have attained any 
prominence unless he became expert in such matters. 

John's abilities speedily asserted themselves. Already fa- 
miliar with the use of arms, he learned the handy strokes of 
cutlass, pike and broad-axe; how to prime a pistol. He took 
part in the swift isolated raids on coastal towns and even 
Spanish ports, harried and burned Spanish ships. He crossed 
the Caribbean without benefit of chart or beacon, sailing 
unerringly and closer to the wind than could the big square- 
rigged Spanish ships. He learned to set up a mast; became 
familiar with the sudden violence of hurricanes, when the 
awful yellow darkness warned it was better to seek no haven 
but to ride out the storm at sea. Rain like steel rods blinded 
the navigators, screeching winds tore at the sails and cordage. 
Along with the other men, John pitted his puny strength 
against the elements' fury as swirling branches, torn from 
island forests, flailed the air, and sheets of spray raked from 
the crests of forty-foot waves almost swamped the ship. 

Such toughened sailors, like the one John became, were a 
continual challenge to the Spaniards who for more than a 
hundred years had decreed that no ship should navigate from 
the Bahamas to the South American mainland except under 
Spanish license. 

In a way he was serving a national purpose, for buccaneers 
contributed to their country's safety by keeping prowling 
warships from home waters. 



46 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

They certainly weakened Spain with their "war-and-no- 
war" tactics and could be counted upon as auxiliaries once 
hostilities were openly proclaimed. In John's day their fight- 
ing companies served with the regular forces of contending 
states. The notorious Henry Morgan, John's Caribbean con- 
temporary, fought under Colonel Venables in two of Crom- 
well's expeditions to seize West Indian territory. 

The English dictator, in a shrewd effort to distract domestic 
discontent by foreign conquest, worked long on a grandiose 
scheme his Western Design to conquer Hispaniola, aa 
enterprise doomed to end in humiliating failure though he 
did succeed in capturing Jamaica. 

It was during this "Hispaniola Affair/' as John called it, 
that Cromwell's attention lit upon Scott, whose deportation 
to New England had been brought to his notice. The Lord 
Protector rescinded the banishment order. John's exploits on 
the high seas had gained him his most precious reward; he 
was once more a free man in every respect. 

"He (Cromwell) offered me great employment/' 3 John's 
letter to the King continued. "But I preferred to gain my 
bread among strangers, even among the Indians of America, 
beyond the reach of all temptation." 

For in this tropical world fringed by the great green arc of 
little islands, political passions still raged, and Roundheads 
and Cavaliers regarded each other with cold enmity. John, 
ever a staunch Royalist, would not join Cromwell's ranks no 
matter what the refusal cost. "Everywhere I went I saw those 
whose loyalty was the cause of their poverty, as is so with many 
of Your Majesty's gentlemen." 4 

When the First Dutch War broke out, John accepted a 
captain's commission from a colonial governor and, with a 
"letter of reprisal," fought in his country's service. 

But he did not continue this existence for long. Much as.it 
seemed to attract him at first, it did not fit into his resolution 
"to make America the scene of the greatest actions of my 
life." 5 



WESTWARD HOl f 47 

So he sailed back to New England, richer in experience, 
if not in pocket, and within a short time, as he informed the 
King, he was "employing himself in and about an island 
called Long Island." 6 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

1. SI. MS., 3662, 785. 

2. SP. Dom. Car., II, 29, No. 419. 

3. Ibid. 

4. Ibid. 

5. SI. MS., 3662, f 786. 

6. Hutch. Pap., II, 104. 



CHAPTER VIII 



LONG ISLAND 



In an economy lacking both coin and a reliable and unfluc- 
tuating system of paper property, real estate was the best 
form of investment . . . and it is an unmistakable fact 
that the merchants were extraordinarily involved in the 
buying and selling of land. 

Bernard Bailyn, The New England Merchants 
in the 17th Century, p. 101. 



Now BEGINS THE ODYSSEY of John's rapid rise to recognition 
in the place which historically is always linked with his name. 
'John Scott of Long Island" is how he became known both 
to contemporaries and posterity, and his move to this lush 
well-populated region established a lifelong pattern of always 
being in a trouble center at a period of dramatic upheaval. 

Long Island was the scene of one of the earliest colonial 
controversies, for it had been planted by both English and 
Dutch settlers constantly in feud over their boundaries. The 
scattered English settlements on the eastern end of the island 
were loosely administered by the New England Commis- 
sioners, and enjoyed a greater freedom from Puritan severity 
than any other part of the country. This strongly appealed to 
John, whose friends in Southampton and Southold (former 
Salem people, irked by repression there), now found them- 
selves living in what practically amounted to little independ- 
ent republics, to the infinite envy of the rigidly governed 
Dutch colonists occupying the western end of the island. 

In 1654, the date of John's arrival, war between England 



4ft 



LONG ISLAND f 49 

and Holland was still going on, and the local situation was 
tense. To prevent the mainland Indians from crossing Long 
Island Sound to exploit this white man's quarrel, John 
Youngs, son of Southold's Pastor Youngs, and a man already 
of some repute, was commissioned as privateer to patrol these 
waters. 

Was it the bond of the sea which brought Youngs and 
Scott together? Theirs became a deep and lasting friendship 
and the two were side by side when "they appeared before 
Van Tienhoven, a Dutch Sheriff at Fort Amsterdam, and 
were heard and examined'* 1 as early records show. Whether 
this was on account of Youngs' scouting the Dutch-held coast 
or for reasons connected with the island's disorders is not 
stated. Apparently the two young men's explanation was 
satisfactory since they were immediately released. But the 
incident pointed up the tinder-box situation. 

Anglo-Dutch rivalry in the New World was at its height. 
Both countries claimed large portions of American territory 
for reasons each considered irrefutable. Dutch traders had 
planted posts along the Hudson at the very moment the 
English were settling Massachusetts Bay; the Dutch had made 
their way into the interior as far as Hartford, Connecticut, 
and spread thinly onto Long Island up to Hempstead shared 
with the English. 

Just before John's arrival, New Netherland had success- 
fully absorbed the Swedish Delaware settlement and was 
ready to tackle New England. But the English settlers were 
proving formidable obstacles to Holland's expansion, and 
soon found in John Scott a sturdy champion. 

As so often in the seventeenth century, events in the Old 
World largely determined those in the New. 

So long as Catholic Spain threatened Europe, England and 
Holland remained allies, and their respective subjects on the 
North American continent preserved an uneasy truce. But 
the moment His Catholic Majesty's power was checked, Eng- 
lish and Dutch sailors flew at each other's throats contesting 



50 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

supremacy everywhere on the high seas; while English and 
Dutch colonists clashed over possession of the towns that 
dotted both sides of the Sound. 

The mounting tension in this hotly disputed area was 
heightened by the intransigence of the two top men con- 
cerned, whose careers crossed John's and brought him onto 
the stage of world history. 

Governor of New Netherland since 1647 was Peter Stuyve- 
sant, a likable, despotic, peg-legged old soldier, obstinately 
determined to allow his countrymen no voice in the conduct 
of their own affairs. His attitude conflicted not only with his 
enlightened home government, but with the policy of the 
Dutch West India Company under which the colony oper- 
ated, and which was pleading with its agent in America to 
liberalize the medieval restrictions that hampered individual 
initiative. In John's time Dutchmen on Long Island openly 
made unfavorable comparisons between Stuyvesant's tyranni- 
cal administration and the greater freedom allowed English 
settlers, even those living in Dutch towns. 

Strategically placed for intrigue in this quarrel of the cen- 
tury, was Britain's Envoy to the Hague, George Downing 
(later Sir George), none other than the son of that Emmanuel 
Downing who had brought John to America. A bold im- 
perious man, keen, subtle, not too scrupulous, he preferred to 
bully rather than persuade, and continually outran his coun- 
try's orders. He disliked and distrusted Holland's Republican 
rulers and was reckless of the risks he incurred in his fierce 
determination to drive the Dutch from commercial and 
colonial fields. 

As a youth in Salem and Boston, George Downing had 
taken to the policy of "pious aggression" with a zest that 
launched England on a brilliant colonial career, which made 
his own fortune, and bequeathed his name to one of London's 
most famous streets. Such a character at the helm puffing on 
smouldering fires, and an opposite number like Peter Stuyve- 



LONG ISLAND f 51 

sant, set the scene for the explosion which ultimately blasted 
John from America. 

In this political struggle Scott was still no more than a 
pawn. He was literally spying out the land, shuttling back and 
forth across the Sound. Writing of these early days in his first 
petition to the King Charles II (1661), he said he "was forced 
to court any employment to acquire a livelihood/' 2 and a 
document of this period gives his occupation as smith. Strong, 
willing, accustomed to danger and hardship, he was prepared 
to try anything. 

At one time, in total disregard for the scandal it caused 
among other colonists, he even went to live among, and work 
for, Indians. Life in Tortuga may have given him a taste for 
their companionship, and a seasoned pioneer, like himself, 
would certainly have been invaluable to them. 

With his interest in language he picked up their dialects, 
learned their ways, won their confidence. He found the Long 
Island tribes less attractive than the fun-loving Arawaks: 
"North American Indians/' he wrote, comparing the two, 
were "more morose, dull, shrinking, and infinitely worse- 
humored, with a great sense of the injuries they sustained 
from the Europeans. They are strict computers of wrongs . . ." 
a matter with which John would readily sympathize "... but 
such people as have purchased their lands fairly have lived 
with them in peace and enjoyed a quiet neighborhood." 3 

His lonely boyhood was a good preparation for this sojourn 
among the "savages," as New Englanders always called them. 
John clearly did not regard them as such. He wrote with great 
sympathy of their tribal and personal customs, defended their 
reaction to foreign "invasion" since it was "the Christians 
who ever first injured them . . . wresting away their country 
by force, where God and nature had given them a propriety." 
And he cited several instances of historical massacres and wars 
precipitated by European greed and ignorance of Indian tra- 
dition. He constantly praised those who "with fair and gentle 
means" sought to convert the natives to Christianity. On this 



52 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

subject he waxed voluble, for John had, at one time, con- 
sidered writing a study of Indian religions, but found, as he 
said, it already "done to my hand by several pens." 

With characteristic thoroughness he devoured all six vol- 
umes of Jose d'Acosta's work on the subject* and in the 
Preface to his own Histories makes a fascinating reference to 
this author's opinion, namely that the affinity of certain 
Indian words to Hebrew led to the conclusion that the 
aboriginal Americans were one of the lost tribes of Israel! 

Like this same Spanish author who blamed his country- 
men's cruelty in pursuing ruthless personal ends under the 
mask of religion, John too, felt that conversion by fire and 
sword was no way to bring Indians to the love of God. And 
he commended most highly the English pastors, John Elliot 
and Abraham Pierson, for their "indefatigable preaching of 
the Glorious Gospel to the poor heathens/' 

John's writings about Indians completely dispel the sug- 
gestion that this interlude in his life was, in any sense, a 
cynical calculation intended to lead to a fortune in real 
estate. They not only reveal a very genuine compassion for 
simple souls cheated and dispossessed, but his Preface goes 
beyond, to implications of a deeper nature. Evidently John 
recognized that these natives, like other human beings, pos- 
sessed definite "natural rights." For "truly it is not unworthy 
to notice," wrote John, "what was once said by an Indian 
Prince in the northern parts of America. A Gentleman 
showed him a patent he had for his country from the King of 
England. Said the Indian, Tour master may give you a com- 
mission to govern his people in any place where you may 
settle, but my territories he cannot give you, for by the same 
rule/ quoth he, 'might I send my people into England to 
settle there/ " 4 

Indians instinctively trusted John, particularly Wyandanch, 
powerful chief of the Montauk tribe, and an unwavering 



Historia naturale e morale delle Indie, par Jos6 d'Acosta, Venice, 1596. 



LONG ISLAND f 53 

friend of Englishmen. These Montauks were the "royal 
tribe/' and Wyandanch, from whom all the whites on the 
island bought their land, was the Grand Sachem of all the 
neighboring tribes, with sole right to dispose of their holdings. 

Now clearly John was at a moment in history when daring 
determined men could do very well for themselves, and from 
his apprentice days in Salem, he had watched, and heard tales 
about those who seized opportunity boldly and profited 
greatly thereby. 

To chart the Americas, as he stated in his Histories, had 
been a youthful ambition, and John's earliest writings indi- 
cate that he had pondered deeply concerning the transfer of 
property from natives to whites, and the fundamental prob- 
lem of just who owned America! 

Since his personal fortune hung on this question, the 
reader, at the risk of tedium, must now give it some attention. 

English claims to the new continent (disputed by Dutch, 
French and Spanish), were based on its discovery by the 
Cabots in 1497-98, and the formal "taking possession, under 
Letters Patent," a century later by Sir Humphrey Gilbert. 
Title to it was thus vested in the Crown and only the King of 
England, or his grantees, could buy (or conquer) land from 
the Indians. 5 King James I conveyed Long Island to one of 
his favorites, the Earl of Stirling, so the earl, and his heirs, 
theoretically had the right to exact payment for any land 
there. Quit-rents were indeed established for Southampton 
and other early townships, but with the passage of time indi- 
vidual settlers ignored this formality distance bred indiffer- 
ence on both sides. 

Sometimes the Crown chartered trading companies to 
colonize parts of the New World, but here again, original 
intentions were drastically altered by the new and unfamiliar 
conditions. When John Winthrop emigrated to New England 
in 1630 taking with him the precious parchment of the 
Massachusetts Bay Trading Company, he and his officers 
were supposed to serve as president and board of directors 



54 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

of a joint-stock corporation. But they became, instead, gov- 
ernor and executive council of a colony which assumed powers 
completely unforeseen in the charter. Gradually they trans- 
formed themselves into a quasi-independent self-governing 
community, partitioning out the land both to towns and 
private individuals. 

Even before the Pilgrims sailed for the New World, there 
had been acrid discussions about future land ownership. The 
adventurers, who put up the money, wanted it all held ^in 
common for seven years, to safeguard capital. But the planters 
wanted homes that could not be taken from them. They re- 
membered with bitterness England's ancient copy-holding 
system under which the tenant could always be foreclosed by 
his landlord. They were determined to be freeholders, reg- 
istering their property in law. And this was the system which 
came to prevail in North America and under which John 
Scott operated. 

The elder Winthrop, just before departure, had summed 
up his own conclusions about the Indians and their continent. 
"That which lies common and hath never been replenished 
or subdued, is free to any that possess or improve it ... So 
if we leave them sufficient for their use we may lawfully take 
the rest . . ." 6 

And take it he did. Convinced of his divine mission to 
rule, he gathered the reins very tightly into his hands and 
restricted membership in his colony to Church members 
only* so that it was an exceedingly small group who claimed 
exclusive rights to create townships, apportion land, and ex- 
clude strangers, not only French or Dutch, but Englishmen 
as well! Within a year he had decreed at the Boston Court: 
"No person whatsoever shall buy any land of any Indian 
without leave of the Court." 7 Nevertheless the majority of 
settlers continued to do so, and purchase from natives, with 



"... a deprivation of civil privileges which, had it occurred in England 
by act of parliament might well have been the first in a roll of grievances." 
Hutch., Hist, of Mass., I, 26. 

"Three fourths of the people remain out of the Church." Lechford. Plaine 
Dealing, p. 73. 



LONG ISLAND f 55 

or without Boston's sanction, was upheld by local magistrates. 

Diaries of the period give a most revealing picture of how 
the early white men acquired their lots, and town records as 
late as the 1670's include Indian deeds turning over to most 
honorable citizens vast areas for no more than a few house- 
hold goods or an old musket. And historians have applauded 
these same men for their valuable, if primitive, surveying. 8 
Not until the mid-eighteenth century, with its greedy land 
barons and alarming increase of conflicting land claims, was 
Winthrop's 1631 act reinforced, and all title-deeds negotiated 
without a state license were declared null and void. 

From the very beginning Governor Winthrop established 
a pattern of behavior which was to have far-reaching conse- 
quences of the greatest national importance. Reprimanded by 
the home government for exceeding his authority (appendix 
A), he argued haughtily: "Our allegiance binds us not to the 
laws of England . . . nor do the King's writs ... go any 
further than the English shores." 9 

This was a daring precedent to set. For if Massachusetts 
could defy England why should not other American depend- 
encies cut loose from Massachusetts? or from any other New 
England colony? Observant and thoughtful New Englanders 
remarked the policy with varying reactions, and its influence 
was certainly not lost upon John Scott. For, confronted with 
a situation involving such an opportunity, he did not hesitate 
to act decisively, and in accordance with prevailing local laws. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

1. Rec. of N. Amst.y I, 174 (Court Minutes). There is no record of 
John Scott being in jail at this time, as Abbott avers. Scott and 
Youngs could even have requested this hearing. 

2. Hutch. Pap., II, 104. 

3. SI. MS., 3662, f 772. 

4. Ibid., till. 

5. Kent. Comm., p. 379. 

6. Winthrop, Life and Letters, I, 311, 312. 

7. Mass. Rec., I, 112. 

8. Thompson, Hist, of L.I., I, 398. 

9. N.Y. Col. Docs., Ill, 136; Winthrop, Journal, II, 301. 



CHAPTER IX 



LANDED PROPRIETOR 



". . . our Hartford friends, having opened the back door 
to the frontier, and invited all and sundry to that 'most 
fatt and pleasant country' must not take it amiss if the 
head of the Bay house endeavour to keep his family to- 
gether, and prevent the lad who took the coat from getting 
the cook too." 

Governor Winthrop's letter (defending himself) when 
relations between "River" and "Bay" became strained and 
Hooker accused him of maligning the new (John Win- 
throp, Jr.'s) colony. 

J. Winthrop, Life and Letters, II, 421. 



ONLY WITH FULL CONSENT of the Indians did John Scott feel 
he could legitimately acquire their property and, true child 
of his century, he was reasonable enough to suppose that by 
fair dealing and a friendly attempt to understand the native 
viewpoint, he could attain his ends. 

It was during the late 1650's that he began trading for 
land. His knowledge of geography stood him in good stead: 
he had travelled over Long Island, had sailed round it, studied 
its topography, and he was, moreover, the trusted friend of 
the tribe with sole right to sell it. 

"He purchased a great tract of land from them/' 1 runs the 
record, in reference to the transfer of the island's middle 
section lying between the English and Dutch settlements. 
". . . near one third of Long Island/' wrote John in his 
petition to Charles II in 166 1. 2 And Governor Stuyvesant, 

56 



LANDED PROPRIETOR f 57 

reporting to Their High Mightinesses, in Holland, mentions 
this same amount as having been bought by John Scott. 

Numerous legal documents of the period give an idea of 
his holdings and when his estates were assessed by Governor 
Francis Lovelace, in 1669, even a cursory estimate revealed 
very considerable properties, with houses and land in Hunt- 
ington, Setauket, Hempstead; also lands at Madans Neck, and 
"a great quantity of land lying betwixt Wading River and the 
Ould Mans." 3 He was obviously a recognized landowner, for 
the saintly Minister Hooker,* writing to John Davenport in 
Boston, March 1663, says: "I spent the forenoon with Win- 
throp, Thomson, (John) Scott of Long Island, in debating 
the business of the colony. . . ." 4 

In ten years he had come a very long way. 

Wyandanch, John's friend, died in 1659, but this loss did 
not at first affect the latter's influence with the Montauks, for 
Quashawam, the late chief's widow, known as the "Sunk 
Squa," became inheritee and showed our young colonial a 
touching fidelity. 

In a document of February llth, 1663, signed with her 
mark and with the names of two English witnesses, the Sunk 
Squa called John Scott her "ancient and great friend" and 
gave him her power of attorney "irrevocably to examine and 
demand and sue" for all lands on Long Island and islands 
adjacent, bought and not paid for, belonging either to Eng- 
lish or Dutch, and "sell all lands not already sold." 5 This deed 
was registered February 17th, 1663, with Henry Pierson, 
Southampton's Recorder, and was duly recognized. Within a 
short time, on February 27th, 1663, the town of Jamaica 
voted that their notaries, Nathaniel and Daniel Denton, 
"agree with Captain Scott to confirm our deeds of purchase 
from ye indeans." 6 



* Hooker came from Marfield, Leicester (B. 1586), and was a graduate of 
Emanuel College, Cambridge. It is said his influence in his Chelmsford 
(Essex) ministry "shone through the whole country." His teachings were 
known in Holland as well as England. He settled in Hartford, Connecticut, 
in 1636. 



58 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

Not all towns, however, welcomed such examination and 
confirmation. Huntington, for instance, knowing that its pur- 
chase deed of 1653 had been signed only by a local chief, and 
did not bear the great Wyandanch's mark, refused to submit 
to the Sunk Squa's order. And at a Town Meeting the 
members voted that should Captain Scott demand to examine 
their title, he should not be allowed to do so unless he pro- 
duced a commission from King Charles II; and that further, 
if he ordered the constable to call a Town Meeting for this 
purpose, the constable should disobey him. 7 

Huntington was claiming a little peninsula, Horse or 
Lloyd's Neck, believed to have been included in the original 
purchase, but which had subsequently been sold (1654) to a 
Samuel Mayo. Since Mayo obtained Wyandanch's confirma- 
tion (May 14th, 1658) and registered his title-deed in Massa- 
chusetts, September 1st, 1658, 8 Huntington feared its own 
claim to this section would not be recognized. 

This was the dispute that John, acting for the Sunk Squa, 
went to adjust. As a matter of fact, litigation over these acres 
was to drag on for two hundred and twenty-five years; it be- 
came one of the most fully reported land-suits in New Eng- 
land. John's brief part in it hardly deserves the scorn of 
certain nineteenth century regional historians, particularly 
as the final verdict established the original Wyandanch 
boundary as line of title for private ownership. 9 (Appendix B.) 

The Sunk Squa's agreement with Scott stood, however, 
until it was voided by Governor Richard Nicoll's new land 
rulings in May 1668. 10 But the old legal document shows the 
degree of friendship and trust between John and the Indians 
and explains in a measure the reason for the title by which 
he is generally known. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

1. Rawl. MSS., A 175, f 147. Dorothea Gotherson's letter to Samuel 
Pepys answering 13 specific questions. 

2. Hutch. Pap., II, 104. 



LANDED PROPRIETOR f 59 

3. Rawl. MSS., A 175, f 125. 

4. CSP. Col. Ser. Am. and W. L, 1661-68, No. 422. 

5. S-ampton. T.R., II, 37-38. 

6. Rec. of Jamaica, LI., p. 28. 

7. Hunt. T.R., I, 58 (copied from original records, p. 43 in Court 
records). 

8. Hunt. T.R., I, 15. 

9. Ibid., 57. 

10. Early Col. Docs. LI., p. 606. 



CHAPTER X 

--?(} 

JOHN'S EARLY SUCCESSES 



"Not that I seek glory ... to myself, for I am not so vain 
as not to know my abilities are too low and do merit 
rather your indulgence . . . but accept me if in order to 
be of service I am willing to erect this pillar for the bearing 
of my name, and I pray your forgiveness for this one point 
of my ambition because it comes attended with all the 
affection and duties which I owe my native country. . . ." 
John Scott, Preface to his Histories 



JOHN SCOTT'S INTERESTS were not all in American real estate, 
however profitable this turned out to be, and we must now 
recapitulate the previous ten years to catch up on his personal 
life and follow his steadily rising star. For he was making his 
mark in other ways. His diversified talents found so much 
fulfillment that his life falls into almost sharply separated 
phases, each differing from the other, each presenting a new 
facet of his restless sporadic brilliance, but given cohesion by 
his consciousness of destiny and an abiding love for England. 

Those early days of freedom in Long Island saw a succes- 
sion of experiments. He hunted whales, traded in furs and his 
irrepressible energy soon brought him in conflict with the 
law. In the spring of 1654 he was involved in a prominent 
slander action with Nathaniel Sylvester. 

This wealthy Quaker shipping merchant had arrived in 
grand style from England and had purchased a large estate on 
Shelter Island, in Peconic Bay, bringing Negro slaves and the 
finest building materials to create a show-place which he gen- 

60 



JOHN'S EARLY SUCCESSES f 61 

erously offered as an asylum for Quaker refugees. Here, in 
1659, came Lawrence and Cassandra Southwick, broken and 
banished, to make their wills and to die almost immediately 
within three days of each other. 

Quakers at this time were no more popular on Long Island 
than they were in Massachusetts, and it irked Sylvester that 
he was considered "subversive" and censured for entertaining 
"the cursed sect/' Being an outspoken hot-head he declared 
that the government acted tyrannically and if anyone meddled 
with him he would "pistoll them/' 1 Scott must have been 
feeling very solid with the town authorities at this moment, 
for both he and John Youngs offended the pompous gentle- 
man by commenting unfavorably on his statements and be- 
havior, whereupon he brought a libel suit against them. They 
were not impressed. Youngs responded with a counter suit 
in which John may have proved a formidable witness. Syl- 
vester apologized to the magistrates for his hasty words, 
dropped his action, and the men settled matters amicably 
among themselves, agreeing to drown all rancor "in ye lake 
of oblivion/' 2 

The incident is revealing as far as John is concerned; law- 
suits became his meat. He never thereafter overlooked an 
opportunity to prosecute, and in an age excessively prone to 
litigation, the number of his cases is notable, to the great 
good fortune of his biographers. But once he had won a judg- 
ment (and he was invariably successful), or his adversary had 
ackowledged his error and expressed regret, no one could be 
more sweetly reasonable than John. In consequence his legal 
battles did not detract from his local reputation. 

In 1657, he was made a freeman of Southampton, 3 a sure 
indication that he was in good standing both with the Church 
and his fellow citizens, and "of peaceable and honest conver- 
sation" as the certificate reads. That same year he was ap- 
pointed tax commissioner for Southampton, and, together 
with Henry Pierson, the Howells, and three others, chosen to 
establish the town rates and to register and tax cattle in 



62 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

Northsea, Southampton's port on Peconic Bay in Long Island 
Sound. Here in 1658, he bought land and later built himself 
a handsome house.* 4 

People were beginning to notice this vivid young man, 
whose buccaneer swagger must have set him apart from the 
stolid farmers. And there was one who watched him more 
closely perhaps than all the others. Her name was Deborah, 
only daughter of Thurston Raynor, a prominent man of 
means (originally from Ipswich, England) 5 who had been 
magistrate in New Haven and Stamford, Connecticut, before 
coming to Southampton, where he enjoyed the prestige of 
those highly regarded positions, the first in the land. 

As a very young girl, Deborah had been the victim of an 
unhappy experience. Wooed in 1650 by John Kelly, a young 
craftsman from the West Indies, she had discovered, after 
promising to marry him, that his former wife, whom he had 
declared dead and buried, was very much alive, merely "dead 
in sin," as Kelly airily explained, trying to excuse his unbe- 
coming conduct. He assured Deborah that he would get a 
divorce, but she broke off the engagement, and he was un- 
chivalrous enough (or so madly in love) as to pursue her with 
threats and warrants. When these failed, he tried to compel 
her to marry him by disparaging her fair name. Deborah's 
parents had no other recourse but to take the matter to court 
the first breach of promise suit in New England. Kelly, after 
expressing his deepest regret for having distressed the maid, 
was fined 10 and, we must suppose, invited to leave town, 
since immediately afterwards his home lot came up for sale. 6 

It was a shattering ordeal for a young girl and for several 



Scott's Landing and Scott's (so-called) Cottage are still standing (1957). 
The house was moved from its original position on Scott's Road in the, old 
whaling town to form the guest wing of Peter Salm's Northsea estate, The 
Port of Missing Men. The massive interior hand-hewn beams still show the 
original adze marks under the delicate eggshell blue paint; the six gabled 
second-floor windows looking east and west, the steeply sloping roof and 
heavy wrought-iron weathervane all belong to the date carved on the lintel, 
1661* 



JOHN'S EARLY SUCCESSES f 63 

years Deborah moped miserably at home. Then she met John, 
and he was like no other young man she had seen. There was 
allure in the set of his fine body; his "hot eyes" (as a con- 
temporary recalls) were an exciting contrast to the colorless 
Kelly; and surely she had never listened to such a torrent of 
talk about so many different subjects. 

Was it a love match on his part? From the distance of three 
centuries it is difficult to guess. She was undoubtedly a very 
good catch for John then, and, as far as any woman occupied 
a lasting role in that wanderer's life, Deborah held this posi- 
tion. Unquestionably it was she who inspired the poem he 
wrote, "To A Wife," whose opening verse somewhat wistfully 
foreshadows something of their future relationship, and 
maybe, reflected his own ideals and desires. 7 

"Prudent and chaste, gentle, easy, kind, 
Much in his sight and ever in his mind; 
At home he leaves, at home he finds a wife, 
Sharer of all that's good, or bad, in life." 

She would certainly have had to be very kind to overlook 
his many long absences from home. Indeed, but for that first 
unfortunate engagement, her father might never have con- 
sented to his daughter's marriage with a man probably 
younger than herself and only at the very beginning of his 
career. But married they were, in 1658, and almost immedi- 
ately John bought the estate and horses of one Mark Meggs, 8 
and was soon afterwards granted eight acres not too far from 
his father-in-law's lot on condition of living there three years 
and promising to build. 

Father Raynor need have had little apprehension about 
John's ability to succeed. Within two years he was an attor- 
ney, conducting the town's affairs; and his legal debut was a 
typical example of his business aplomb, 

Southampton's established lawyer was Josiah Stanborough, 
one of the town's founders. His name is on the first South- 



64 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

ampton document for "setting forward" the plantation and 
undertaking to lay out its boundaries. 

It was Stanborough who handled the Raynor case; and his 
name appears as one of the "perfect" freemen who had, in 
1649, the authority to "give or let" any land that year. 

And it was precisely Mr. Stanborough whom John Scott 
had the temerity to sue for trespass in September 1658. 9 

On a second occasion John appeared in court against Stan- 
borough, this time with his own partners, brother-in-law 
Joseph Raynor, and young Richard Howell, son of that EcP 
ward Howell who was Stanborough's old colleague and one of 
the town's original planters. 10 

These legal proceedings ended, as did so many of John's 
suits, with everyone agreeing that all differences, "from the 
beginning of the world till this day" were to be forgotten. 

What was Stanborough to think of this brash young man 
who so hotly rushed into law, and defended himself so vol- 
ubly in court? The first impact of John's personality was in- 
variably favorable. People liked him immediately, as many 
great men were to prove, and Stanborough seems to have suc- 
cumbed to the Scott charm. Did he urge him to take up law 
and become his partner? It looks as if he did. 

Josiah Stanborough came from Stanstead, in Kent, and he 
must have known something about the Scott background. 
Then he himself was a man of very vigorous action. In his 
early days the Court had censured him for resisting a con- 
stable, and a legal opponent had once offered to fight it out 
with his bare fists. 11 Perhaps he recognized a kindred spirit. 

Or it is just possible that the trespass suits were pre- 
arranged. One certain way of determining ownership of land 
was to force a court decision about the precise extent of its 
boundaries. The remarkable number of John's suits for tres- 
pass suggests that that is exactly what he was doing in this 
particular case perhaps with Stanborough's consent and ap- 
proval. 

By April 30th, 1660, John was listed as attorney handling 



JOHN'S EARLY SUCCESSES f 65 

a suit for a whaling company, which he, true to form, con- 
sented to arbitrate. 12 The following month he and Stan- 
borough together, for Southampton, sued Easthampton in a 
boundary quarrel, delivering their warrant and agreeing to 
appear at the General Court at Hartford, Connecticut, 13 
where a preliminary agreement was reached, in a case des- 
tined to last for decades. 

It was the age of land disputes. Not only Southampton and 
Easthampton were at law, but Southampton and Southold 
were in controversy over meadowlands which each claimed; 14 
there were legal differences between Flatlands and Flatbush; 15 
a lawsuit between Gravesend and Flatbush; 16 the list is un- 
ending. 

More than half the entries of all the Court and Town Rec- 
ords in practically every Long Island town are concerned with 
the registration of land lots and legal proceedings over their 
boundaries. It was a golden age for attorneys, and judging 
from the record, John seems to have been in great demand: 
his rapid grasp of a situation, his ability to pack information 
into clear terse phrases, had people turning to him wherever 
legal troubles threatened. Not that this took all his time: he 
was "on with an old love" again, the sea. 

He had become part owner of a sixty-ton ketch called the 
Hope well, stoutly built in Salem and furnished with every- 
thing necessary, including guns, for a trip John intended 
making to Newfoundland. The price was one hundred and 
twenty-five pounds sterling, a goodly amount, but John made 
a down payment of 75, and went to Boston to pick up his 
treasure and sail it back to Southampton. 17 

To a former privateer the possibilities of coastal trading 
were endlessly rewarding, especially with people who "had 
neither license nor ability to launch out at sea," as the Con- 
necticut archives reveal. 18 Back and forth across the Sound 
among the English, Dutch, and Indians John drove a thriv- 
ing business, carrying biscuits, beef, pipe-staves, livestock; 
within a few months (March 1659/60) he paid two Dutchmen 



66 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

outright for their sloop, the Fleur de Luce which he kept 
riding at port in Northsea. 19 A frigate belonging to him was 
reported in New Haven in 1660. Doubtless it was during 
these sailing days that he began making mental notes for the 
great New England map which is now among early colonial 
treasures in the British Museum. 20 

With a wife, land and houses, ships, legal status, John 
might feel justly established and well on the way to solid suc- 
cess. There was a little John Scott, too, born during those first 
years of marriage. There is no birth registration, of course* 
but the grant of a parcel of land to him, recorded in 1679, 
indicates that he was over eighteen at that date, and could 
legally take up his share of "the great division of land, for- 
merly belonging to his father/' 21 

Everything pointed to a distinguished honorable career for 
the Salem former bound boy. His friends were among the 
town's leading men; he was associated in community work 
with Henry Pierson, son of the Very Reverend Pastor Pier- 
son; 22 and with the old planters, Edward and Richard How- 
ell, Southampton's founders. 23 He was Josiah Stanborough's 
law partner; a co-magistrate with Richard Woodhull one of 
the most esteemed surveyors of the period and a valuable 
real estate dealer. 24 And from his early days as privateer he 
had kept a military rank, for in many legal documents he is 
referred to as Captain John Scott, Esq. 25 There was a com- 
pelling something in him which made men listen to him, and 
his awareness of this characteristic did not detract from its 
effectiveness. Speaking impersonally of himself he once re- 
marked that it was his good fortune to "prevail upon men." 
He never came into a coffee house if there were a hundred in 
the room but "that they all flocked about him to hear him 
discourse; he could impose anything upon them." 20 

Others were quick to recognize and try to profit by this 
quality. For when the news reached New England of King 
Charles' glorious Restoration with its promise of settled gov- 
ernment after years of civil disturbance, each colony looked 



JOHN'S EARLY SUCCESSES f 67 

about for a representative to send to England to promote its 
interests and enlarge its charter. 

From Massachusetts went Samuel Maverick; from Rhode 
Island, Mr. Clarke and George Baxter; from Connecticut 
went Governor John Winthrop; and, unofficially, from Long 
Island, went Captain John Scott. Not quite unofficially, 
either. Before he left, he was entrusted with a mission by the 
Atherton Land Company, an ambitious project of a group of 
Massachusetts and Connecticut merchants for establishing a 
new colony on territory acquired from the Narragansett In- 
dians. 27 

When John sailed for London on the Oak Tree in October 
1660, he had behind him men of the caliber of Simon Brad- 
street, John Winthrop, Jr., Edward Hutchinson, Emmanuel 
Downing all Atherton Company members. 28 And their hopes 
in him must have been equally high, for John Winthrop sub- 
sequently wrote to Connecticut's Deputy-Governor, John 
Mason: "The proprietors about Narragansett have taken a 
good way, by empowering Captain Scott to petition His Ma- 
jesty for continuance within your patent . . ." 29 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

1. Hoadley, Rec. N. Hav., pp. 92-93. 

2. Ibid., pp. 78, 89, 94, 364. 

3. Howell, Hist, of S-ampton, p. 384. 

4. S-ampton T. R., I, 118, 36 (or 49 in original records at S-ampton). 

5. Ibid., 136. 

6. Ibid., 61-63; 79, 138. 

7. Rawl. MSS., A 176, f 79. 

8. S-ampton T.R., I, 120. 

9. Ibid., 121, 148. 

10. Ibid., 121. 

11. Ibid.,4Q. 

12. Ibid., II, 2. 

13. Ibid., 3. 

14. Early Col. Docs., L. I., p. 599. 

15. Ibid., p. 586. 

16. Ibid., p. 588. 



68 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

17. S-hold T.R., I, 214-15. 

18. Conn. Arch. For. Corr., No. 21. 

19. S-hold T.R., p. 472; NY. Col Does., XIV, 459. 

20. AddMSS., 5414, 21. 

21. S-ampton T.R., II, 73. 

22. Ibid., I, 118; II, 37-38. 

23. Ibid.,1,121. 

24. Br-haven T.R. (1880 ed.), I, 8 (1924 ed), I, 75; Thompson Long 
Island, I, 398. 

25. Br-haven T.R. (1880 ed.), I, 8. 

26. Morn. MS., Joyne's Journal I, ff 315-16. 

27. O'Callaghan, Hist, of N.Y., p. 49; Leonard, Hist, of N.Y., p. 90. 

28. Conn. Arch. MS., I, f 326. 

29. Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., 5th ser., VIII, 77 (Winthrop Papers). 



CHAPTER XI 



RESTORATION ENGLAND 



"I have not so much money in my purse as when I came 
to you . . . nor have I been able to give my brother one 
shilling since I came into England, nor to keep any Table 
in My House, but what I eat myself; and that which 
troubles me most is to see many of you come to Me at 
Whitehall and to think that you must go somewhere else 
to seek your Dinner." 

His Majestie's Gracious Speech to Both 
Houses of Parliament Aug. 29, 1660. 



CAPTAIN JOHN SCOTT was just twenty-eight when he sailed 
from America, "a proper handsome person" as a contempo- 
rary wrote, full of lusty life and ambition. And what more 
likely opportunity for new success than Restoration London, 
where the citizens were madly elated at the return of Charles 
II? 

With the King back on his throne, his good subjects were 
not only revelling again in the pageantry and glitter dear to 
their hearts. They fondly imagined that, in the King's person, 
they would recapture Merry England's happier days so that 
the luxury trades, dead these twenty years, and the stagnating 
shipping and national industries would revive, and haul them 
out of the economic depression the Puritans left behind them. 

To these native optimists were added all the returning 
Cavaliers who by every boat and along every highway came 
flocking to the capital, eager for compensation, convinced that 
their Monarch would honor his obligations, and delighted by 

69 



70 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

the pomp and royal trappings to which Charles submitted in 
the time-consuming business of holding open court. For John, 
whose London memories were surely quenched by colonial 
austerity, the scene must have ravished the eye. 

The old palace of Whitehall was practically a town in it- 
self. Sprawling for nearly half a mile along the Thames 
banks, its timbered walls rose in a medley of architectural 
styles enclosing suites of formal chambers and apartments, 
halls, courtyards, terraces, linked by winding corridors and 
overlooking well-spaced gardens, bowling greens and tennfs 
courts. Great gateways led down to the water and commanded 
the entrance to the chief banqueting hall. For this was not 
only the royal dwelling place. It housed the King's Ministers 
of State, his courtiers, chaplains, ladies, and musicians, all 
his footmen and personal servants. 

Center of the court diversion was the long stone gallery 
running the length of the Privy Garden. Soft lights illumi- 
nated its painted ceiling, and the damasked walls hung with 
priceless pictures Charles I had loved to collect and which his 
son had piously reassembled. Dancing flames from the mas- 
sive fireplaces drew glowing color from the assembled throng. 
Above the stir and gossip was the music of the King's fiddlers, 
brought back by their royal master from his travels abroad. 

Every day the velvet curtains before the Private Apart- 
ments were flung wide and His Majesty came striding through 
the gallery, followed by his Ministers, and supplicants from 
the Royal Bedchamber or Council Room. This was the great 
moment to attract the royal eye and gain access to the royal 
ear, and those who sought favors became regular attendants 
at these gatherings. 

John found the stately routine made to his requirements. 
As agent for the Atherton Company he procured the right in- 
troductions, bought himself elegant clothes, and for the first 
time fitted a great light-colored curling wig over his own 
brown locks. Then, confident and splendid, he made himself 
a frequent Whitehall visitor. His appraising eye immediately 



RESTORATION ENGLAND f 71 

grasped the possibilities of rewarding encounter. In this court 
of youth he noted that a certain young man was invariably 
at the King's side. This was Thomas Chiffinch, Keeper of the 
Royal Jewels, and one of the pages of the King's Bedchamber. 

From all the English squires of good family, Thomas Chif- 
finch had been chosen and brought to Court by Brian Duppa, 
Bishop of Salisbury, the Prince of Wales' tutor, a man zeal- 
ously careful of the character of those serving the Prince. 
Thomas had followed his young master into exile, shared the 
hardships and humiliations of those bitter years on the con- 
tinent, and returned to enjoy the Restoration triumph. He 
was a man of absolute integrity, enjoying the highest regard 
at Court, and so beloved by Charles II that the King would 
visit the youthful Chiffinch manage in St. James's Park and 
dine with them alone. 

It was natural that John should gravitate to Thomas. The 
Chiffinch family place was at Staplehurst, not twenty miles 
from Smeeth and Ashford; it was a manor ancient as those of 
the Scotts;* the name of Staplehurst, and its inhabitants, fig- 
ure in the household accounts which Sir John Scotte kept for 
King Edward IV in 1464. 1 No Scott of Scot's Hall could be a 
stranger to a Chiffinch. 

Then, too, as reward for his devotion, Thomas had been 
given a position in the Excise the Customs Office and was 
to become the Receiver-General of all the revenues from 
Foreign Plantations. 2 So what more likely than that he should 
be interested in colonies and this attractive young colonial? 

For the confusion of historians there were two Chiffinches 
brothers. When Thomas died tragically in 1666, literally 
from one hour to the next, surely a Plague victim, the whole 
Court mourned his loss, and the King was inconsolable. Then 
Thomas' brother William was appointed to fill his place. 
William was a man of a very different stripe. A libertine. 



* Staplehurst was in the Hundred of Twyford and was fief of Pympe and 
Nettlested, both Scott properties. (Vill. Cant., p. 304) 



72 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

pimp, and obsequious time-server, delighting in dubious in- 
trigue, he brought to his vicious back-stairs influence an al- 
most scientific perfection. 

John Scott never had any dealings with this unsavory char- 
acter; indeed, William Chiffinch had no influence to peddle 
until 1667, when John had left London. But he surely knew 
about him. And John's oft-quoted letter to Secretary William- 
son, written in 1663 from New England, probably meant 
exactly what it said, and was neither polite turn of phrase, 
nor cynical flattery when it included his services to "noble 
Mr. Chiffinch/' 3 Contemporary readers were in no doubt as 
to which Chiffinch he meant.* 

John could have had no better entree to Court than 
Thomas. It could have been the latter who passed him on to 
Joseph Williamson (secretary, then, to Sir Henry Bennet, who 
subsequently became Lord Arlington, Secretary of State). 
Williamson was an important figure on the newly created 
Council of Foreign Plantations, a fact-finding board expressly 
designed to deal with overseas possessions. A first-hand report 
on the colonieseven the brash, uninhibited details that John 
first furnished was of immense value to a man like William- 
son, whose meticulously compiled notebooks reveal how 
much he came to learn about affairs across the seas. 

Williamson took to John from the first, and presented him 
to Bennet, who never forgot him, and on numerous occasions 
was very helpful to him. John maintained this important con- 
nection all his life, and on a footing of singular intimacy. For 
some of his longer dispatches (1671-72) there are about forty 
of these in the Public Record Office are addressed to Sir 
Joseph, when he had finally become Secretary of State him- 
self, and are signed "yours most affectionately" or "yours 
fondly" in John's unmistakable handwriting. 4 

With Chiffinch and Williamson as his patrons at Court, 



* This letter is calendared among the Colonial Office Papers as "services 
to Thomas Chiffinch." Col. pap., XVII, 102. 



RESTORATION ENGLAND f 73 

John felt emboldened to put in a petition on his own ac- 
count. With due formality, he presented his plea to the King, 
asking that in recognition of his father's services to Charles I, 
and of his own efforts as a child in the royal cause, there be 
bestowed upon him the governorship of Long Island, where 
he owned considerable land. 5 Or, at least (for John was al- 
ways reasonable, and, in his own peculiar manner, modest), 
that the inhabitants of this Island be allowed to choose their 
governor and assistants annually. Not for nothing had John 
lived within sight and knowledge of those who clung too long 
in office, to the detriment of other likely candidates. 

No answer to the petition was immediately forthcoming; 
Whitehall was besieged with supplicants. All requests had to 
be sifted and probed, the worthless eliminated, the authentic 
encouraged, the lucky rewarded. Clearly, it was impossible 
for Charles to satisfy everybody. He had inherited a stagger- 
ing burden of debt, and the national coffers, when he had 
finally come into his long delayed inheritance, were hope- 
lessly inadequate to provide for his country's needs. 

Of this, John had little inkling in 1660. He was elated at 
the thought of a possible governorship, and may have 
dreamed of being founding father of the fourteenth original 
North American colony. Besides, fortune was smiling upon 
him in a very special manner in the person of a beautiful, 
remarkable woman, Dorothea Scott, great-granddaughter of 
Sir Reginald Scott, and heiress of Scot's Hall. 

Dorothea, after a lively Royalist girlhood, had become a 
dedicated Quaker, marrying one of Oliver Cromwell's stern- 
faced officers, Major Daniel Gotherson. With typical Scott 
aplomb, she preached regularly in a hermitage between two 
Kentish breweries, where "Scott's Congregation," as it was 
called, listened to her religious improvisations with awed de- 
light. She had published a book of spiritual experience, A 
Call to Repentance, and this she presented to the King when 
she went to Court to congratulate him on his Restoration. 
Charles never overlooked a beauty, no matter what her re- 



74 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

ligion.* And amused perhaps by the book's dedication which 
bade him, in round Quaker terms, "O King, take heed to it as 
to a light shining in a dark place," he detained her in con- 
versation, and witnessed an encounter that she herself de- 
scribed afterwards in a letter to Governor Lovelace: "Being 
at Whitehall with the King, in whose presence was John 
Scott, who told me his name was Scott and that he was of the 
family of the Scotts of Scot's Hall, which I was ready to be- 
lieve because some of our ancestor's pictures were very like 
him/' 6 

John indeed carried his heritage in his face and figure 
the handsome lines, the lithe upright carriage, maintained to 
the last, for the Scotts were a well-favored family. His features 
were clear-cut, the eyes deep-set ' 'having large hair on the 
eyebrows" as one admirer wrote. "He hath a very hot look," 
said another. The pupil of one eye was slightly larger than 
the other with a golden fleck in its liquid depths giving him 
an almost insolent stare. Women apparently found this ir- 
resistible, although on one occasion he had real cause to re- 
gret it for he was mistaken for a "wanted" man known to be 
marked by a squint 1 

Now began one of the happiest periods in John's life. 
Openly acknowledging the kinship, the Gothersons took him 
to live with them at Hunsden House, in London, and at their 
Godmersham place in Egerton, Kent, for "greate part a year" 
as Dorothea wrote, 7 giving John the advantage of a good 
background from which to conduct the various affairs that 
had brought him to England. The warmth of his high spirits, 
plus an innate seriousness, seem to have beguiled them, and 



* As it is highly improbable that there should have been two pretty 
Quakers at the same time at Court, we can assume that Dorothea was the 
one mentioned by Pepys in his Diary (January llth, 1664), to whom the 
King teasingly remarked that her quaking religion would be admirably suited 
to his old courtier, Sir John Mennes, as his beard was the stiffest thing about 
him, and that if her desires were as long as the petition she carried, she might 
well lose them. 



RESTORATION ENGLAND f 75 

for the first time, after so long, he must have had the sensa- 
tion of "belonging" again. 

The "thees" and "thous" fell trippingly from his tongue. 
The Quaker jargon of his lonely boyhood was paying magical 
dividends; and Dorothea's probing interest in the good of his 
soul seemed all only too familiar, though with what sweet 
difference from the bleak austerities of the Southwick house- 
hold. 

Gotherson's interest in "his loving kinsman," as he called 
John, had its practical side, for the old man was a Long 
Island landowner himself. He had bought two townships in 
Oyster Bay in August 1633 through the agency of John Rich- 
bell, who disposed of land there and was one of the island's 
foremost merchants, handling property and produce for New 
Englanders and Englishmen alike. 8 

Gotherson never profited by this investment, and his lots 
were later seized and sold for debts he had incurred with his 
bailiff, Mathew Prior. 9 But listening to John's glowing ac- 
counts of New World prosperity, he seems to have forgotten 
the ill luck which had hounded all his business ventures. 

Daniel Gotherson was an unsuccessful merchant (even 
heiresses during the Civil War had little choice of husbands). 
He had made an unfortunate loan at one time to Thomas 
Scott the Regicide (no relation), 300 of which, if he ever 
got it back, was earmarked for agent Richbell to settle some 
of his Long Island obligations. Gotherson had been declared 
a bankrupt in 1650, and even when John appeared on the 
scene could not have been very prosperous, for he was borrow- 
ing small sums of money 10 and had just taken a little govern- 
ment job, furnishing secret information about Kentish Quak- 
ers and other suspicious dissenters; i.e., he was reduced to 
spying upon his co-religionists. He was also keeping a wench 
on the sly in Kenta widow Rogers but Dorothea packed 
her off to Oyster Bay, together with the illegitimate child. 11 
All of which did not prevent his publishing a book of pious 
epistles (printed in London by James Cottrel, 1662) in which 



76 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

he exhorted his readers to "see their durty Dregs, and repent 
their abominations." 

Sustained by self-righteousness, in due time he felt ready to 
risk another speculation and buy land through John. Being 
a declared bankrupt he had to be wary about acknowledging 
any extensive purchase, lest he be suspected of disposing of 
hidden assets. The deed drawn up between the two reflects a 
nice sense of legal caution. For this much-discussed document 
reads: 

"I, John Scott, of Ashford, on Long Island ... do author- 
ize Daniel Gotherson ... my true and lawful attorney for 
me . . . and in my name and for my use to treat for (i.e., 
acquire the English title) 20,000 acres ... on the south 
side of Long Island and between . . . etc. etc. and there- 
upon to conclude for such sum of money as he in his prudence 
shall think a fit consideration for ye whole or any part of the 
said 20,000 acres so sold.* 

Signed, John Scott" 12 

But the fate of this, and another sales agreement, is bound 
up with John's career in a way we must now consider. For 
calendared among the state papers of 1665, is Dorothea's peti- 
tion to the English courts which shows Gotherson's ill-luck 
pursued him to the end: 

"Dorothea Scott, widow of Daniel Gotherson, heir to the 
younger house of Scot's Hall, Kent; For an order to Francis 
Lovelace, deputy-governor of Long Island, to consider 
whether she has any claim to certain land there for which 
her husband disbursed 2,000 to John Scott, but thereby dying 



* According to the exhaustive findings of the historian, Henry Edward 
Scott, editor emeritus of the N.E. Historical Genealogical Society, Boston, he 
considers this power of attorney is to sell land, not to buy it, Pepys* endorse- 
ment notwithstanding. The document is printed incorrectly by G. D. Scull (in 
his Dorothea Scott-Gotherson-Hogben, p. 58), and it is not, as Scull asserts, in 
John's handwriting. Scull also confuses the seal the Scott arms on the sinister 
half of the shield, empaling Gotherson and Scott not Scott and Tuke, as Scull 
says. H. E. Scott's papers, N.E. His. Gen. Library, Boston. Package 4. 



RESTORATION ENGLAND f 77 

in debt his lands are taken, and though she brought him an 
estate of 500 a year, she and her six children are reduced to 
work for their bread." 13 (Italics added.) 

John was in the West Indies when this happened. He did 
not learn about it till much later when he renewed an affec- 
tionate correspondence from Holland. The two were not to 
see each other again till they met in London in 1678, and the 
old friendship was resumed. Whether John ever got that 
two thousand pounds for the land is problematic. Gotherson, 
his wife said, died six thousand pounds in debt, so that it 
seems improbable that he could have raised any large sum in 
cash so shortly before his death. Governor Lovelace testified 
that Scott was paid "in money and jewels" 14 and that the 
latter, according to Dorothea, whose trinkets they were, were 
worth 200. If he received anything more is doubtful. (Italics 
added.) 

Lovelace also located some of the land involved. "But 
Colonel (Governor) Nicolls interposed and said the case 
could not, in his time, be examined," wrote Dorothea in her 
formal plea for assistance. 15 Lovelace advised her to petition 
the King. It was some years before she got around to doing 
this, and then it was the Duke of York, not Charles II, who 
accorded her a hearing. He turned the matter over to the 
Admiralty, where it eventually came to Samuel Pepys' notice. 
And by that time Pepys had a case to prove! 

Thomas Lovelace (brother of Francis), now governor, 
handled the investigation not too willingly, and reported to 
Pepys in 1680. "In all Long Island there is no such town as 
Ashford, notwithstanding the mention made thereof by 
Scott," he wrote, quick to impute fraud.* What he failed to 
mention, or did not know, was that all John's land had been 
confiscated, and that moreover, there had been a major crisis 



* Ashford, originally called Cromwell's Bay, was successively thereafter 
named Setaukct and Brookhaven. It was mentioned as Ashford in the first 
meeting of the eight magistrates. 



78 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

in the island's land tenure in 1666. At that date the new 
Duke's Laws were enforced and property owners were re- 
quired to repurchase their title-deeds, or lose their estates by 
default. Many a man lost his home-lot and the courts were 
filled with angry claimants. 

But what most harmed Dorothea's chances of recovering 
her property was the fact that Thomas Lovelace was himself 
petitioning the King for the return of his own land on Staten 
Island, also seized for debt. 10 And it is understandable that 
he would not jeopardize his own chances by pushing vefy 
vigorously a similar case. 

But all this only came out much later. At the time of John's 
first visit to England, private land deals were not his chief in- 
terest. He had far greater irons in the fire. He was officially 
negotiating for recognition of the Narragansett territories 
whose ownership was being disputed by Connecticut, Mas- 
sachusetts, and the Rhode Island colony. And foremost, of 
course, was his own petition to be Long Island's governor. 

Acquaintance with Williamson had opened his eyes to the 
vast colonial organization going on under Clarendon's For- 
eign Plantations Council and encouraged his hopes of profit- 
ing by this redistribution of titles and property. With a 
prospective governship pending, he did his best to promote in- 
terest in Long Island (Appendix C), a place about which the 
Court seemed to know very little. Indeed, nothing was more 
paradoxical in this budding imperial age than its almost 
complete ignorance of geography. Maps were rarities studied 
by few, and even the informed public did not know where 
overseas possessions lay or cared much about that great 
European population, mostly English, which existed outside 
of Europe. 

But while John was talking up Long Island to his Wends, 
he himself was acquiring a new viewpoint. He was too astute 
not to be affected by Whitehall's attitude, and, English royal- 
ist at heart, he may well have sympathized with much that 
he heard discussed. From words and hints dropped by Chif- 



RESTORATION ENGLAND f 79 

finch and others as they paced the Long Gallery together, he 
began to understand how the Foreign Plantations Committee 
would affect New England. Its advice and decisions would 
tighten bonds with the mother country and formalize rela- 
tions which had been previously handled somewhat casually, 
and which Massachusetts already had been increasingly 
slighting. 

Cromwell had interfered little in colonial civil affairs, but 
he looked upon New Englanders as constituting the Puritan 
garrison in America. Balked at home in his desire to maintain 
a standing army, he turned overseas to those men of "proven 
metal." To the colonies he sold his Scottish prisoners, 17 and 
at one time was ready to remove all the Irish en bloc to his 
newly acquired Jamaica and repopulate Ireland with staunch 
Massachusetts Protestants! 18 

Charles II had a far greater understanding of men and 
their needs. He handled colonial affairs with a warmth of 
heart and prodigality which astonished New England agents 
when they came to London on charter business. Full of mis- 
givings and suspicion, they had been well received, accorded 
several hearings before the Privy Council and finally granted 
very liberal charters. Only later did they experience the 
sterner Stuart policy. 

The British colonial system, as John was to learn in his 
early days at court, involved more than just trade and com- 
mercenamely, politics! 

And although after the Restoration these functioned 
mainly through the Navigation Acts, English officials and 
Colonial Boards were beginning to provide the machinery 
through which colonial control was to be both maintained 
and tightened. 

In America John could hardly have been aware of this. 
Colonists were too close to their own affairs to realize they 
were members of an empire and involved with the rest of the 
world despite themselves. 

When the men of Massachusetts issued writs in their own 



80 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

name, coined their own money, exercised arbitrary power 
and forbade appeals to the Crown, they were overlooking a 
far-reaching consequence. For once France or Holland be- 
came convinced that England would not intervene to protect 
an independent area, French and Dutch settlers might easily 
be tempted to invade it. 

This much John, in London, could realize. And his view- 
point about Long Island local friction must have certainly 
undergone change as well. The constant boundary disputes 
between Dutch and English towns at its Western end would 
now be clearly recognized as an extension of general Anglo- 
Dutch rivalry. Desperate as these incidents seemed over there, 
they were but a small part of a much graver international 
situation, to be remedied only by international action. 

His stories at Court, therefore, of Dutch encroachments 
and depredations took on political overtones lacking at home. 
His racy accounts of the West India Company's vast profits 
from smuggling, its contraband tobacco trade with Virginia 
and Maryland all at England's expense went beyond travel- 
lers' tales of picturesque and far-off happenings, and must 
have impressed certain authorities with his knowledge of 
what was really going on. 

For the Foreign Plantations Council sent him back to 
America, on an official assignment to warn the Dutch they 
should live quietly and not injure the English. His mission 
was duly noted in Sir George Downing's correspondence, 19 
and was the subject of a report Governor Stuyvesant sent 
Their High Mightinesses in Holland. 20 Rumor already had it 
that John had been made Long Island governor, and Stuy- 
vesant was loud in his lamentations about English designs on 
New Netherland. 21 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

1. Arch. Cant., I, 250-58. 

2. Egerton MS., 2395, f 370. 

3. N.Y. Col. Docs., Ill, 48. 



RESTORATION ENGLAND f 81 

4. S.P. Fl. 77/41, 65; ff 151-52; passim. 

5. Hutch. Pap., II, 104. 

6. Rawl. MSS., A 175, f 147. 

7. /&*<! 

8. Oy. Bay T.R., I (appendix), 684-85; Book A, 42. 

9. Ibid. 

10. G. D. Scull, Dorothea Scott otherwise Gotherson-Hogben, p. 56. 

11. Rawl. MSS., A 175, f 123. 

12. Ibid., ff 128, 129, 131-35, 136-37. 

13. CSP. Dom., 1664-65, No. 98. 

14. Rawl. MSS., A 175, 119. 

15. Ibid., I 144. 

16. Ibid., f 120; Rawi. MSS., A 173, f 185. 

17. Mass. Hist. Soc. Pro., LXI, 4, 29. 

18. Harlow, Barbados, pp. 106-7, 112, 116. 

19. N.Y. Col. Docs., II, 334. 

20. Ibid., XIV, 506. 

21. O'Callaghan, Cal. Hist. MSS., I, 296. 



CHAPTER XII 



MASSACHUSETTS' SECRET AGENT? 



". . . in the same year that the Bay lost her charter John 
Winthrop gained one for Connecticut, giving her self- 
government on the Massachusetts model, gobbling up 
New Haven, and extending her boundaries west to Lake 
Erie and the Mississippi. Probably the 500 that Con- 
necticut appropriated for the 'expenses' of the Winthrop 
mission were also of some assistance." 

S. E. Morison, Builders of the Bay Colony, 
p. 284. 



JOHN'S RETURN TO THE NEW WORLD in his quasi-official role 
was something of a triumph. He was made much of in Boston 
and was entertained by Council members, to whom he 
boasted of his favor at Court. Wearing his fine new clothes 
and with a gold medallion of the King on a golden chain 
round his neck, he regaled his listeners with tales of his ad- 
ventures, of what My Lord Chancellor had said, and what 
intimate matters concerning New England had been discussed 
in his presence. 

Long Islanders had heard the rumors of his promotion to 
governor, and not a few were irked by all this sudden recog- 
nition, and wrote spiteful letters about his self-important airs. 
Power, it is true, lent an additional swagger to his self-confi- 
dence, and he was quick to assert the King's authority be- 
stowed on him. Writing to the Southampton magistrates 
(Captain Youngs and John Ogden, November 27th, 1662) he 
declared: "Whereas His Honored Majesty Charles II our 

82 



MASSACHUSETTS' SECRET AGENT? f 83 

dreade sovereign hath invested me with power to command 
both affairs and others, for any affairs that I have occasion to 
transact: by virtue of which power and in His Majesty's name, 
I demand the procuring of the body of John Cooper . . , ni 
Cooper, apparently, had uttered derogatory expressions about 
Charles I "of blessed memory" and also about Charles II "in 
whose name, I, John Scott, do promise to prosecute said John 
Cooper on a charge of high treason . . ." 2 

In England, words spoken against the Throne were, in 
sober truth, treason punishable by death. It would have been 
hard to make such an accusation stick in easy-going Long 
Island, but, inflamed with his new ardor, John Scott seemed 
trying to do just this. 

He did not have much time to ruffle around and exercise 
authority, however, since he was recalled to London: "having 
strick Command from the Kinge to return with all speede," 
as one of the correspondents recounted. 3 

It is just possible that John returned to England with a 
secret understanding to keep Boston informed about matters 
under discussion in English administrative circles. According 
to the historian Chalmers, the General Court had frequently 
"approached" the King's ministers and subsidized certain 
Privy Council clerks in order to learn state secrets or to 
obtain, surreptitiously, documents before they were made 
public.* 4 

John certainly carried back with him very explicit instruc- 
tions on kindred matters, and was, probably on this occasion, 
Massachusetts' agent. So altogether it was a very different 
man who appeared at Whitehall on his second visit. His con- 
fidence was also bolstered by Chiffinch's whispered informa- 
tion that his petition had been accepted. For within a few 



* A committee for this very purpose had been appointed and empowered 
to employ "some friend" in England "for the improvement of our informa- 
tion" and "to give us the best advice how our affairs stand there ... the 
charges for such a service to be paid out of the public Treasury." Mass. Rec.> 
IV, prt. 2, 101. 



84 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

months he was notified officially by State Secretary Henry 
Bennet, that "His Majesty had received good testimony of 
his loyalty and great sufferings . . . and was fully satisfied 
of his particular abilities to serve him and was most graciously 
inclined to encourage his desires." 5 

His suit, however, was to be referred to the Foreign Plan- 
tations Committee which would examine what other claims 
or grants (if any) existed, that the King might take the right 
course both in "gratifying the petitioner and respecting the 
good of his other subjects." 

This was a distinct blow, for another claimant to Long 
Island did exist. This was none other than Connecticut's 
governor John Winthrop, who was in London again when 
John returned and who had just obtained a charter for Con- 
necticut, a charter whose extensive boundaries he himself had 
somewhat artfully defined, for they included "the islands 
thereunto adjoining." Did this mean the numerous little off- 
shore islands in the Sound, or did it refer to densely popu- 
lated Long Island itself, lying the whole length of his 
southern shore? If John's petition were to be granted, more 
particularly if Long Island's inhabitants were to be per- 
mitted to elect their governor annually, it could prove a sad 
day for John Winthrop, who had held continuous office in 
Massachusetts for eighteen years before becoming Connecti- 
cut's governor in 1659, a post he clung to uninterruptedly 
until 1676 (brushing aside rules against successive guber- 
natorial terms). 6 One can imagine what he had to say when 
John's petition became known! 

Winthrop's warnings to the King were hardly necessary, 
however. Between a mature administrator of proven experi- 
ence, and a flamboyant young man with a golden tongue, 
there could be only one choice. Little as Charles II loved 
Puritans, his inherent good statesmanship counselled against 
creating another small state; his policy was to consolidate, not 
diffuse, power. So John's petition to govern Long Island was 
refused. 



MASSACHUSETTS' SECRET AGENT? f 85 

Since the ambitions of John Scott were destined to clash 
with those of John Winthrop, a glance at this "Puritan of 
Puritans," as he was called, is not without interest. His por- 
trait* shows a man of unusual nobility of countenance, with 
the long Winthrop nose accentuating a long face and neck 
framed in dark hair cut harshly across the forehead and fall- 
ing uncurled to his shoulders. His almond-shaped eyes under 
heavy brows show warmth; a drooping mustache almost hides 
the upper lip; the lower is unexpectedly full and somewhat 
peevish. There is great intelligence and hypersensitivity in 
his expression. There is vanity as well, an aspect that the 
exaggerated flourishes of his signature seem to confirm. 

He had a great deal to be vain about; his life was one long 
calm assumption of power. 

Born at Groton, Suffolk, in 1605, he was educated at 
Trinity College in Dublin, where he lived a while with his 
uncle, Emmanuel Downing. He was an experienced traveller 
before he joined his father in the New World, where he was 
elected Assistant to the General Court, and founded the town 
of Ipswich. 

From his early boyhood his father had entrusted him with 
the heaviest responsibilities, giving him an assurance and 
authority which amounted almost to a sense of infallibility. 

On one of his return trips to London, old family friends, 
Lord Saye and Sele, and Lord Brooke, undertook to furnish 
men, money and supplies for a plantation along the Con- 
necticut River. Young Winthrop, following the pioneer set- 
tlers in 1639, was appointed governor for one year. From a 
wilderness of rocks and stunted trees, he helped settle the 
towns of New London and Groton, planting his own orchard 
and building himself a fine stone house, but spending much 
of his time commuting between the two states. It was not 
until 1658 that he relinquished his Massachusetts offices and 
lived permanently in Connecticut. 



* Painted in England about this period and owned by Grenville T. Win- 
throp, Esq. 



86 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

He was a good governor, despite complaints of "authority 
too long held"; his rule was milder than that in other colonies 
where the rigorous Mosaic law prevailed. But, like so many 
early colonials, Winthrop was possessed with the lust for 
land. He managed to acquire an unusually large assortment 
of estates for himself, and all his life pursued an aggressive 
policy to extend his state boundaries.* 

His hold on Connecticut was precarious, and he knew that 
he did not own the land he governed.f It was this anomalous 
position that Winthrop had hastened to London to correct, 
begging the assistance of Lord Saye and Sele, to whom he 
wrote that "the colony had as yet not so much as the copy of 
a patent." 7 The word inspired the remedy, for to Charles II 
he told another story. He begged the King for a "renewal 
of his patent, since the original was lost in a fatal fire at Say- 
brook, and the duplicate was lost among the papers and car- 
goes beyond the sea during the late civil troubles.";}: 8 

Historians agree that this was "an uncomely lie." But for 
the virtuous Winthrop all was condoned and forgotten in the 
enthusiasm over the eventual success of his mission. His 



* "The story of Connecticut's land claims is neither a simple nor an in- 
viting subject to deal with. It begins with the extent of land mentioned in 
the draft of the Warwick patent . . . asking for nothing west of the Con- 
necticut River. But in the deed granted . . . was territory running one 
hundred and twenty miles along the coast and west to the south sea ... 
How are we to account for this extraordinary discrepancy, and who was re- 
sponsible for it?" C. M. Andrews. Col. Per. of Am. Hist., II, 140. 

The Committee of the Privy Council said that "King Charles II was 
surprised in his grant to Connecticut as to the boundaries." Acts Privy 
Council Col., Ill, 14. 

John Winthrop Jr. was finally made to promise "not to intermeddle with 
any town" already established. Mass. His. Soc. Coll., 3rd ser, II, 9. 

(The Earl of Warwick, who had first conveyed it to Lord Saye and Sele, 
had never received a patent for it. The Records of the early New England 
Council show that it had never passed the seals, and was therefore invalid. 
S. F. Haven, History of Grants, pp. 22-24, Conn. Pub. Rec. t II, 403-04. 

{Even C. M. Andrews admits that this "is a strange document to bear 
the signature of John Winthrop Jr. ... it contains what Winthrop must 
have known was not an accurate rendering of the facts. . . ." Col. Per. Am. 
Hist., II, 132 n. It is very significant that John Scott hoarded a copy of this 
Winthrop letter among his private papers. (Rawl., Mss. A 176 f 113.) We can 
well imagine what he thought of it! 



MASSACHUSETTS' SECRET AGENT? f 87 

charter, which he himself had drafted, was more liberal than 
anyone had thought Charles would grant: it made Connecti- 
cut virtually independent. Its boundaries were extended to 
the east as far as Narragansett Bay, taking in some of the 
Providence Plantations of Rhode Island; its northern borders 
went to the south line of Massachusetts (thereby swallowing 
parts of New Netherland); on the west it reached to the 
Pacific Ocean (at that time believed to be much closer than 
it is); while its southern limits annexed all of New Hiiven 
and reached a line which Winthrop interpreted as including 
Long Island. 

It is highly probable that the King, in enlarging and 
strengthening this smaller colony, hoped to provoke a little 
healthy New England rivalry and thereby curb the formi- 
dable insubordination of Massachusetts. This was quite in 
line with Clarendon's policy of overlapping frontiers. In this 
particular case, however, royal favor was also won in no small 
measure by the Connecticut governor's astute gift of a val- 
uable ring, the same which Charles I had once presented to 
Winthrop's father. The youthful monarch's filial devotion 
was a very well known fact, and Winthrop Junior showed 
nice feeling (and considerable political perspicacity) in re- 
turning to Charles II the royal memento. 

He lingered a year in London, resting on his laurels and 
working hard to placate John Clarke (Rhode Island's agent 
for the Providence Plantations), who had strenuously opposed 
Winthrop's inclusion of the Narragansett Country in his new 
charter. Unlike the suave governor, and lacking the latter's 
powerful contacts, John Clarke ignored diplomatic manners; 
and during an audience with Chancellor Clarendon vilified 
Winthrop to his face for "injuriously swallowing up the one 
half of our Colonie." John Scott, who was professionally in- 
terested in the Narragansett lands, had been a spectator of 
this regrettable scene and reported it with gusto on that first 
return trip to America, revealing that the Lord Chancellor 
had publicly rebuked Clarke, asking him if he were not 



88 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

ashamed of his impudence and marveling at Winthrop's 
patience and restraint. 9 When it came to hectoring, John 
himself was not to be outdone and he added his own fuel to 
the Narragansett controversy by "taking a very threatening 
tone with the governor of Rhode Island." 10 

The territory in question, stretching between the Paw- 
catuck River and Narragansett Bay, was actually included in 
the charters of both Rhode Island and Connecticut (a further 
example of Clarendon's tricky colonial policy), and it con- 
tained the area the Atherton Land Company planned to de- 
velop. 

That old Indian campaigner, Major Atherton, had origi- 
nally obtained two tracts of land adjoining the Bay for him- 
self and John Winthrop, Jr., buying from the Sachem Scuttup 
in 1659 "when no English pretended any title thereunto." 
This grant was duly confirmed by the Massachusetts Court, 11 
and John Scott was taken into the Atherton Company almost 
from its inception. In October of 1660, just before he sailed 
the first time for England, he signed an agreement with 
Humphrey Atherton, Thomas Stanton and eleven members, 
that in the event of the Narragansett land being officially 
recognized as theirs they would not sell nor share any part 
until it was first offered to the Company as a whole at such 
a price "as indifferent men shall judge." (With a note, 
especially added by John, that the Indians be treated cour- 
teously.) 12 

The original Atherton area was vastly extended, however, 
after that. In 1661 the United Colonies, to punish the Nar- 
ragansett Indians for killing some Englishmen, fined them 
735 fathoms of wampum (which was legal tender). John 
Winthrop acknowledged the receipt of a small part of this 
sum, covering the transfer charges, 13 but to pay the balance 
the native chiefs executed a mortgage deed with the Atherton 
Company. They agreed that unless they paid Connecticut's 
governor the remaining 595 fathoms within four months they 
would forfeit to the Company their whole country! 14 This 



MASSACHUSETTS' SECRET AGENT? f 89 

technique of fine, mortgage and foreclosure was no unusual 
procedure for taking land from the savages, although not 
often practised on such an extensive scale, nor by such high 
authorities. In this case the sumpaid in full to Winthrop 
as governor was quite beyond the Indians' capacity to repay 
to the Atherton Company. 

So the rich mortgaged Narragansett acres fell into the 
hands of the distinguished speculators. 

Poor Mr. Clarke, in London, laboriously negotiating the 
renewal of his charter which covered this territory, "could 
not be put to rest/' as was reported by Sir Thomas Temple 
(governor of Nova Scotia) and Captain Scott returning home 
together in 1662. For the Atherton patentees, to bolster their 
claims, had turned up in Massachusetts an old grant for 
the disputed land antedating Mr. Clarke's. A copy of this had 
been duly forwarded as further instructions to the "pure 
and unsuspecting Mr. Winthrop." 

The only flaw in this scheme was that the patent was not 
worth the paper it was written on since it had not been 
officially signed and registered. Volumes have been written 
about this pseudo patent, and the whole Narragansett con- 
troversy became one of those bitter expensive land disputes 
which dragged on for more than a century. Impossible to 
present here even a fraction of the arguments for and against 
the opposing claims. From the welter of discussion, however, 
emerges one salient fact: the Atherton Company members, 
doubtless aware of the forgery, made no use of the patent 
but adopted other means to obtain their ends. Abandoning 
their pretension to charter rights and relying upon right of 
purchase only, they decided to appeal directly to the King, 
since all land titles were (ultimately) vested in the Crown. 

Just whose bright idea this was is not proven. Some nine- 
teenth century writers attribute it to the "knavery of John 
Scott," the Company's confidential London agent. His nimble 
wits may well have deduced from his Whitehall experience 
that more important than any right to land was knowing the 



90 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

right people who disposed of it. But if this conclusion was 
his, the subsequent plan was not the result of his "infamy" 
or "uncerimonious" and "sinister proceeding," as certain his- 
torians affirm. It was known to, and approved by, all the 
Atherton associates. 

Chancery Records show he was given a "letter of agency" 
signed and sealed in Boston on December 26th, 1662, by 
Thomas Alcock, Edward Hutchinson and other Narragansett 
plantation owners, which empowered him to "solicit the mat- 
ter, in order to obtain His Majesty's order of reference." 11 * 
And Winthrop himself wrote what a good course the Ather- 
ton Proprietors had taken in sending Scott to the King. 10 
Later when Winthrop personally attempted an amicable 
compromise with Clarke, he regretted that John had taken 
up the boundary dispute officially. 17 

To plead the Atherton case was a mission after his own 
heart. All John's myriad law suits at home seemed but a 
preparation for this supreme appearance. He was well aware, 
of course, that no plaintiff ever approached the Stuart court 
empty handed. Though possessing nothing comparable in 
value to the jewelled ring which Winthrop gave the King, he 
had the good taste to offer "a parcel of curiosities" (to the 
value of sixty pounds the Company promised to pay) 18 and 
these went through friend Chiffinch's hands to their appro- 
priate destination, while Chiffinch himself was gratified to 
see his name placed on the list of members. 

"There were several hearings of the said matter before the 
King and his Council" 19 and undoubtedly John spoke with 
his customary eloquence, thundering against John Clarke 
and his Rhode Island associates, whom he blamed for hinder- 
ing the new development and represented as "enimys to the 
peace and well-being of His Majesty's good subjects." 20 

The main point of his pleading was not so much to claim 
new territory as to transfer from Rhode Island and the Provi- 
dence Plantations the jurisdiction over it and grant this 
either to Connecticut or Massachusetts. No matter what ad- 



MASSACHUSETTS' SECRET AGENT? f 91 

miration later generations showered on Roger Williams' lofty 
experiment, those hard-headed Yankee entrepreneurs, bent 
on exploiting their real estate, wanted no part of Rhode 
Island's unorthodox liberalism. It led to unstable, unpre- 
dictable government, they declared.* 

The case, reinforced by John's beautifully penned petition 
in the name of Winthrop, Simon Bradstreet, et al, 21 was 
highly successful. He secured a letter from the King, counter- 
signed by Henry Bennet, stating that the Atherton Asso- 
ciates "had a just propriety in the lands," and that the King 
"having been given to understand that his good subjects 
Thomas Chiffinch, John Scott and John Winthrop," etc., 
were disturbed unjustly "by certain unreasonable and turbu- 
lent spirits of Providence Colony" recommended the owners 
to "the neighbourly kindness and protection" of the four 
New England Colonies Massachusetts, Plymouth, New Ha- 
ven and Connecticut. 22 

It has been often pointed out that the King, in this circular 
letter, included New Haven, although but a few months 
previously he himself had rendered this colony a political 
nonentity by permitting Connecticut to annex it. Moreover 
a few weeks after he signed the famous missive, Chancellor 
Clarendon passed under the Great Seal the royal charter of 
Rhode Island which included more or less the selfsame terri- 
tory Charles had recommended to the special protection of 
the four colonies 1 

Royal ignorance of geography can hardly be held respon- 
sible for these self-contradictory frontiers. It was in all 
probability Clarendon's intention to weaken the New Eng- 
land Confederacy by providing a constant source of distrac- 
tion over disputed boundaries, and thereby lighten his task 



* Contemporary writers seemed to share this view for it is echoed in in- 
numerable letters and documents stigmatizing the "rebel band" and "the 
ungoverned people," and Rhode Island, "a refuge for evil-livers, malefactors, 
buggerers . . . and men who work and drink on the Lord's Day." Mass. Hist. 
Soc. Coll., 5th ser., IX, 27-30; Ibid., 2nd ser., VII, 80. 



92 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

of increasing the colonies' dependence on the mother coun- 
try. 23 

The King's letter was, however, received with the greatest 
enthusiasm and for the time being was all-important. New 
Haven made it the foundation for renewed resistance to 
union with Connecticut, and acclaimed John as her champion 
of independence. 24 On repeated occasions the commissioners 
of the three orthodox sister colonies referred to it in legal 
disputes with all loyal respect for its authority. John, who 
had obtained it, was the hero of the hour. 

Attention having been focused on him once again, the 
Foreign Plantations Committee remembered his outcry 
against the Dutch, and his complaints of their invasion of 
the New England mainland and islands^ particularly of Long 
Island. So they ordered him to draw up a Narrative (with the 
help of Samuel Maverick and George Baxter) of "the King's 
title to that area," and of Dutch general behavior, local 
strength, and to suggest a * 'means to make them submit to 
His Majesty's Government, or to expel them." 25 

Not one of the trio had any love for New Netherlanders. 
Maverick's dislike was already recorded in his letters to 
England; George Baxter, at one time Stuyvesant's secretary, 
could not endure the latter's tyranny, educated as he had 
been in the principles of English liberty; while John's tena- 
cious memory went all the way back to his bitter boyhood 
and Salem's icy winters. For was it not certain treacherous 
Dutch pilots who had steered the earliest Pilgrims to those 
bleak Cape Cod shores, reserving for themselves the temper- 
ate zones along the Hudson where the English had fondly 
imagined they were going to settle? Bradford, the contempo- 
rary historian, suggests that this was the reason for Scott's 
initial bias against Holland. 26 

It might have played a role; John rarely missed an oppor- 
tunity for settling scores. But his Narrative was surely the 
result of something more than personal animus. His sudden 
plunge into public affairs seems to have awakened within him 



MASSACHUSETTS' SECRET AGENT? f 93 

a latent grasp of wider issues, as events were soon to prove. 
For the document he produced hinted at a policy of the ut- 
most importance, not only to the American colonies, but for 
England and the British Empire generally. Although he made 
only suggestions susceptible of the widest interpretations and 
of various courses of action, he nevertheless pointed out, and 
in the very strongest terms, three crucial features of strategic 
significance: (1) that it was impossible to enforce the Naviga- 
tion Acts as long as New Netherland lay between New Eng- 
land and Virginia; (2) that the entire Dutch territories in 
the New World were very precariously held; and (3) that 
their conveyance to English hands would not be impossible. 

And this counsel alone entitles him to some historical 
prominence. For it fitted in most marvelously with certain 
grandiose schemes already latent in the mind of the Merry 
Monarch who, for all his pleasure-loving nature, was as 
shrewd a King as ever ruled England and a great imperialist 
to boot. Buttressed by his growing Navy, he was even then 
considering England's alliance with France and the partition 
of the Dutch and Spanish Empires, transferring their exten- 
sive overseas possessions to the English Crown. Long Island 
must have looked like a promising little beginning and, al- 
ways generous to a fault, he could make his brother's fortune 
by presenting him with this rich morsel. 

The Narrative assignment denoted the degree of recogni- 
tion John had won in official circles. Not only this. The Privy 
Council, when he returned to America again, put the stamp 
of its approval on him by commissioning him to bear the 
latest royal instructions concerning enforcement of the Navi- 
gation Act. 27 Here was one immediate response to his Narra- 
tiveEngland struck boldly at Holland through its carrying 
trade. 

But the Act also aimed at punishing New England for evad- 
ing the King's customs duesa policy that rankled for a cen- 
tury. The ill-advised severity of this directive was later to 
prove one of the main reasons for the Colonies' break with 



94 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

England. And as bearer of such ill tidings John was lucky that 
history merely forgot his role in this instance instead of 
meting out to him the punishment usually reserved for mes- 
sengers bringing bad news. 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

1. Conn. Arch. Towns and Lands, I, 40. 

2. Ibid., 24. 

3. N.Y. Hist. Soc. Coll. (1869), II, 47 (Clarendon Papers). 

4. Chalmers, Pol. Ann., 412-13, 461. 

5. Hutch. Pap., II, 381. 

6. Conn. Pub. Rec., II, 346-47. 

7. Van Rens., Hist, of N.Y., I, 402. 

8. Rawl. MSS., A 176, f 113. 

9. N.Y. Hist. Soc. Coll. (1869), II, 47. 

10. Ibid. 

11. Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., 5th ser., IX, 31. 

12. Conn. Arch. Col. Rec, I, f 326. 

13. Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., 5th ser., IX, 12. 

14. Ibid., 25. 

15. Collins, Ch. Pro., 221. 

16. Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., 5th ser., VII, 77. 

17. Ibid., XXII, 35, 53. 

18. Collins, Ch. Pro., 221. 

19. Ibid. 

20. CSP. Col. ser. Am. and WL, 1661-68, No. 493. 

21. Mass. Hist. Soc. Pro. (1867-69), 1st ser., X, 391-92. 

22. Conn. Arch. For. Corr., I, 2. 

23. P. L. Kaye, Eng. Col. Admin, under Ld. Clarendon, Johns Hopkins 
Press, XXIII, Nos. 5, 6. 

24. Hoadley, Rec. of N. Hav., pp. 500-02. 

25. N.Y. Col. Docs., Ill, 46. 

26. Bradford, Hist, of Ply. Plant., I, 158-60. 

27. N.Y. Col. Docs., Ill, 44. 



CHAPTER XIII 



THE SECOND HOMECOMING 



". . . Lands! Lands 1 . . . one of the Gods of our New 
England which the Eternal will destroy!" 

Roger Williams to John Winthrop, Jr. Conn. 
Pub. Rec., II, 65-67. 



ARMED WITH THE PRIVY COUNCIL'S instructions and the King's 
letter to the four colonies, John's second homecoming was 
even more triumphant than before. He had quite a retinue 
with him this time. He brought back his old mother, rescued 
from the hardship and poverty to which political upheavals 
had reduced her, and he must have felt no small satisfaction 
in setting her up in her own establishment on "one of his 
principal bouweries" (as the records read), with Thomas Feis, 
a trusted servant, to look after her. 1 

On shipboard with him too had been young Daniel Gother- 
son, Dorothea's eldest boy, and Hallelujah Fisher, a Kentish 
parson's son, both of whom he took into his own household 
at Ashford (Setauket). There was some excitement and much 
gossip over his reappearance (judging from letters neighbors 
wrote with their usual envious comments). 2 

For the first time he made much of his wife, that sweet, 
patient creature who saw so little of her brilliant, erratic 
husband, and who now had a second son, Jeckamiah, to wel- 
come him home. 3 He showered her with gifts, hanging about 
her neck the jewels Gotherson had given him; he dressed her 
in the fine clothes he had bought in London for her and 

95 



96 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

showed her off to the townsfolk insisting, with playful devo- 
tion, that her train be carried behind her, like any English 
countess. He was happy and magnanimous, seemed to be the 
man of the hour in New England, with prospects of even 
greater position and public service before him. Even if he 
had not succeeded in becoming governor of Long Island, 
there is little doubt that he had heard hints of what was in 
store in that direction and what possible honors might be his. 

In many ways he was a changed man. His two trips tg 
England had not only deepened his ties with his own country. 
He had spent time and effort getting to know his family back- 
ground, visiting Scott ancestral seats, searching documents, 
wills, parish registrars, tracing, with his customary exhaustive 
energy, the Scott pedigree through innumerable generations. 

Surely it was on this last visit that he brought back the long 
parchment scroll, twenty-six inches wide and several feet 
long, with all the family names written in black ink and the 
marriage lines traced in red. This pedigree, still extant in 
1909* (Appendix D), bore a number of details that suggest 
it might have been John's own work, or done under his super- 
vision. It is considered, by those who have seen it, extraor- 
dinarily attractive. Names of man and wife were written in 
two linked circles (each the size of a quarter) these circles 
leading to a shield two-and-three-eights of an inch long by 
one-and-three-quarters wide, on which the arms of the hus- 
band (dexter) and those of the wife (sinister) are emblazoned 
in heraldic tinctures. There were sixty-three of these shields 
on the scroll, and at the foot of the pedigree there was a large 
heraldic achievement, on the shield of which are eight quarter- 
ings. Both color and decoration suggest some of John's own 
elaborately painted maps. 

The date of this manuscript-pedigree, which was not signed 



* It was examined then, on January 9th, for some five hours, by Henry 
Edward Scott, genealogist, historian, and editor-emeritus of the New England 
Historic Genealogical Society. My description is taken from the notes among 
his papers, which I was permitted to see May 14th, 1956. 



THE SECOND HOMECOMING f 97 

nor attested, seems pretty closely fixed, for it mentions 
Thomas Scott, John's younger brother, known to be living 
in 1663; and it referred to the 1663 betrothal of the child 
heiress, Lady Ann Scott, Countess of Buccleuch, to the Duke 
of Monmouth. So what more likely than that he produced 
the work in London, or had it drawn for him there? 

All his adult life John was deeply conscious of his English 
background, perhaps exaggeratedly so. This is understand- 
able. One cannot take a high-spirited, well-born boy and 
subject him to long years of bonded servitude without some 
influence on his personality. John's craving to be recognized 
as belonging to the "squirearchy" must have been consider- 
ably enhanced after he learned that this class in England 
owned most of the land and ran all of the local government. 
Such facts gave food for thought. John himself owned quite a 
bit of land, and he was definitely part of the New England 
government. He was tax commissioner of Southampton, and 
Long Island's chief magistrate. He had, in fact, in the land of 
his exile, reconquered by his own efforts much the same 
position to which he was born at home. 

This knowledge gave him new confidence. His orders took 
on a peremptory tone. 

On this second return he was regarded, too, as something 
of an authority on public affairs, people turned to him for 
assistance, he became a most sought-after attorney, whose 
talents (and whose favor at Court) were well recognized. The 
town of Southampton, disputing Connecticut's taxation 
claims, asked his advice on the matter, which he gave in no 
uncertain terms. He told them to suspend all payments 
which they did. He substantiated this judgment later by de- 
claring that he: 

"fully and absolutely affirmed that the land (Southampton) 
was not within the line of Connecticut; it had another lord, 
viz. the Duke of York, to whom the soil was given by the 
King, after its surrender by Lord Stirling. . . . 



98 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

"Moreover from the moment of the granting of its charter, 
Southampton had no reason to pay taxes, indeed, it were 
more fitting that Connecticut should pay Southampton back 
monies"! 4 

To Easthampton he gave similar advice, charging money 
for it too, although this was normal. Since 1660 he had 
handled (with his law partner, Stanborough) Southampton's 
boundary dispute with Easthampton, and he was not likely 
to forego legal fees when dealing with the old adversary. He 
assured the Easthampton magistrates that under the Combi- 
nation which they themselves had made with Connecticut, 
1649, 5 but which Winthrop was now trying to void, they owed 
the Hartford Court nothing. Easthampton, however, bewil- 
dered by changing events and unsure about results of such a 
decision, appealed to Hartford for further clarification. 6 

John's bold assertions defining the limits of Connecticut's 
rule must have enraged Winthrop. Since obtaining his 
charter, the governor had overlooked no opportunity of in- 
sisting that the whole of Long Island was his. Acting on this 
assumption he had been extending his sphere of influence, 
selecting for himself choice lots of Long Island property. Now 
came along this troublemaker with his unsettling news of 
royal intentions, and, to add insult to injury, backed by some 
show of royal favor. Could anything be more provoking? 

And there was another reason for Winthrop's displeasure. 
The famous letter John brought back from the King, con- 
cerning the Narragansett land: why was it addressed to the 
governors of all four colonies instead of giving Connecticut 
sole right of settlement? Had Winthrop negotiated the matter 
privately with Rhode Island's Mr. Clarke, could he not have 
done very much better?* 



* Both Connecticut and Rhode Island continued to petition Charles II 
concerning their claims to the Narragansett lands, both as to ownership of 
the soil and jurisdiction over it. When Charles sent his four commissioners 
to New England in 1664, they decided that the territory should be taken from 
the two colonies and rechristened King's Province, till a final settlement could 



THE SECOND HOMECOMING f 99 

But John had come home, not only with the blessings of 
the Privy Council, but with the reputation of having made 
his mark with the Committee of Foreign Plantations as well. 
It was the head of that august assembly, Chancellor Claren- 
don, who had bought out the Earl of Stirling's Long Island 
patent, to present to his son-in-law, the Duke of York. In the 
interim, before the English armed intervention on the island, 
Clarendon felt he was running the place, and it was doubtless 
he who ordered Winthrop to give John some local office. 7 
Reluctantly, we may be sure, Winthrop appointed John 
commissioner of Ashford, giving him magisterial powers 
throughout the whole island. 8 

The other colonists, impressed by his ability to get things 
done, welcomed John with marked cordiality. New Haven, 
mindful of his championship of its rights, reimbursed him 
for all his English expenses. Its General Court gratefully 
recorded the friendship he had shown the colony, and the 
respect in England that he had won; 9 it set up a special com- 
mittee to "treat with him for the purpose of obtaining a 
patent for Delaware/' and, against all eventualities, placed 
troops at his disposal. 10 

The clamor for his assistance grew. Men on the west end 
of Long Island petitioned him to come and "settle their con- 
dition," claiming the Dutch were abusing them. 11 Another 
appeal concerning a quarrel with the Dutch reached him 
from three men who, "recognising your understanding and 

be reached. Governor Richard Nicolls, the chief commissioner, however, re- 
versed this ruling, declaring it null and void, so the struggle continued, with 
each colony sending its agents to London to present its claims. 

In 1683 the King appointed Edward Cranfield, Esq., to go to the disputed 
area, examine all claims and report. Cranfield assembled the greatest number 
of Indian Sachems ever brought together, and after full and ample testimony 
by them and by English witnesses, reported (December 4th, 1684) that 
property of the soil was vested in the heirs of John Winthrop, Major Atherton 
and their associates. And that jurisdiction over it belonged to Connecticut. 
CSP Col. Ser. Am. and W. L, 1681-85, p. 743. 

However, like so many decisions concerning land, this one did not stick, 
and later the territory was included in Rhode Island's boundary where it 
remains to this day. 



100 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

expert knowledge" begged his counsel for settling lands on 
the Raritan River. 12 He was retained by Hempstead to handle 
all boundary disputes and other town matters. 13 

When news reached him from England that Sir Edward 
Scott had died at Scot's Hall, John and his servants put on 
long mourning out of respect, and he declared he would 
surely inherit a fortune since Thomas, the deceased's only 
boy, was generally known to be Prince Rupert's son. John 
was unaware that the parents had been ultimately reconciled, 
and that just before his death, Sir Edward acknowledged his 
bastard and made him his heir. Not that John would have 
inherited anyway. Younger sons, in England, get only poor 
pickings. But he was feeling his oats, and dreams of wealth 
were an indication of his exalted condition. 

He was dealing in Long Island land again. He had begun 
the development of a large territory, some thirty-two miles 
square, east of Nanemosett Brook, which Mahmasutee (or 
Massitewse) had long since sold him. 14 (Appendix E.) Here, 
on a tract that reached across the island from sea to sea, were 
Daniel Gotherson's acres and the houses he had had built, 
sending over from England workmen and building materials. 
Gotherson's bailiff, Mathew Prior, owned property on this 
new development and lived with his family at Ould Mans. 
There were numerous settled groups at the nearby attractive 
Mount Sinai, and Deborah, even while John was in England, 
had, with the devoted assistance of Captain Youngs, moved 
all her belongings and servants from Southampton and North- 
sea, and had taken up her residence on this new estate, called 
Scot's Hall.* 

In England, John had visited the Kentish ancestral place 
and seen the stately red-brick Jacobean mansion with its great 
banqueting hall and adjoining picture gallery full of family 
portraits. 15 Its formal flower gardens, handsome stretches of 



* Youngs describes this big move to John in a long letter which he signed 
"your faithfull friend till death." Rawl. MSS., A 175, 116. 



THE SECOND HOMECOMING f 101 

water, the Ladies Walk and extensive rookeries may have 
impressed him but could have meant little to him he had 
gone there but once and as a stranger. 

His own Scot's Hall* was a long one-story building with 
a wing or two, situated on Scott's Cove. Besides the main 
building it comprised kitchens and stables. He must have 
intended extensive ornamental additions for when it all came 
up for sale a quantity of glass and iron was found on the 
premises. It also contained a considerable amount of tea, so 
John apparently lived there in some style, for this was just 
then becoming the fashionable drink in America and cost 
as much as sixty shillings a pound. The beautiful colored map 
he drew of New England, gives some idea of this whole 
section. The original coastal settlement of Cromwell Bay he 
had re-christened Ashford, in memory of the old market town 
at home; and other place-names recalling his English fore- 
bears are sketched in, such as the villages of Smeeth and 
Brabourne. 

John had not undertaken this extensive planting alone; he 
went into it with a number of partners. Their agreement of 
December 5th, 1663 (as attested in the original documents 
in the State Library in Hartford), shows that some of the most 
distinguished Long Islanders were in with him, particularly 
Richard Woodhull, Daniel Lane, Joseph Hand, Zacherious 
Hawkins, whose seals appear on the parchment. 16 

His real estate ventures by no means absorbed all his 
energies. He found time to prosecute a neighbor he was 
standing no impertinence now, and sued a Charles Barnes 
for slander won the case and forgave the offense, with costs 
assessed to the defendant. 17 

And mindful of all the historic happenings about to take 



* Scot's Hall was sold, 1666, and added to the local minister's house to 
provide space for public purposes, religious and secular. It was later used as 
a tavern, on the lonely forest track between Setauket and Southold. It is 
thought by some to exist still, as portion of the present-day Crystal Brook 
Club House. N. Y. Historical Magazine, XVI, 445. 



102 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

place, he wrote a long letter to friend Williamson in London 
preparing him for drastic changes and begging him to see the 
Dutch Ambassador to make sure that no diplomatic steps be 
taken until New England and by this he meant, possibly, 
himself could "make itself heard." 

For the English settlers on the west end of Long Island, 
he announced (somewhat prematurely, it must be admitted), 
"long enslaved by the Dutch, had, at Connecticut's insti- 
gation, rebelled/' 18 (Italics added.) 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

1. Fernow, Rec. of New Amst., V, 172-74. 

2. AT.y. Hist. Soc. Coll. (1869), II, 47. 

3. N.Y. Gen. and Bio. Rec., XLVI, 23. 

4. Conn. Arch. Towns and Lands, I, f 29. 

5. Ibid., ff 8, 9. 

6. Ibid., ff 32, 37. 

7. S.P. Dom. Car., II, 29, No. 419. 

8. O'Callaghan, Hist, of N. Neth., II, 499. 

9. Hoadley, Rec. of N. Hav., pp. 549-50. 

10. Ibid, p. 515. 

11. Conn. Hist. Soc. Coll., XXI, 146. 

12. Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., 5th ser., I, 397-99. 

13. Rec. ofN. and S. Hempstead (1654-1880), I, 156. 

14. Thompson, Hist, of L.I., I, 32. 

15. Add. MSS., 5414, 21. 

16. Conn. Arch., MS. I, ff 312-13. 

17. S-ampton T.R., II, 31. 

18. N.Y. Col. Docs., Ill, 48. 



CHAPTER XIV 



THE PEOPLE'S CHOICE- 
PRESIDENT SCOTT 



". . . they that dare not say what they are (affairs being 
ripened) and strive not to be what they ought to be, it 
may be feared will submit to anything, and consequently 
may expect, in the end, to come to nothing." (Italics 
added.) 

John Scott to Sir Francis Rolle, M.P., 1676. 
Rawl. MSS., A 175, 182. 



WHEN JOHN SCOTT RETURNED to New England from London 
in November 1663, it did not take him long to sum up the 
political situation in Long Island. The many appeals for help 
reaching him from inhabitants there made him realize how 
very unsettled conditions had become. Isolated towns on the 
western the Dutch end were threatened by Indians on the 
warpath, and were angrily complaining about the scant pro- 
tection their government afforded them. Other townsin the 
English section were strenuously resisting Connecticut's at- 
tempts to exert authority over them. 

"Exalted" (as Dutch Stuyvesant complained) by the pos- 
session of his new charter, Governor John Winthrop, early in 
1663, had declared Ostdorp (Westchester) on the mainland 
and certain English towns on Long Island, annexed to Con- 
necticut. And he sent Captain Talcott with armed troops 
"to reduce them." 1 John heard tales of the wild disorders 
which ended that raid. Stuyvesant, infuriated, went person- 
ally to Boston to protest to the United Commissioners against 

103 



104 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

these "unlawful obstinate and unwarranted proceedings." 
But he obtained no satisfaction. 

As the island situation worsened, and even his Dutchmen 
grew restive, Stuyvesant appointed three deputies to go to 
Hartford to persuade Governor Winthrop to re-organize the 
boundary line long since established (1650) between the re- 
spective English and Dutch possessions. 

For four weary days his men travelled over land and water 
to reach Connecticut's capital, only to be kept cooling their 
heels on arrival. 

The English governor was cold and uncommunicative, ob- 
viously temporizing until all the towns had revolted and he 
could take over. His charter, he maintained, included not 
only Long Island, but extended to the Pacific. "Where then 
lies New Netherland?" he demanded. For him New Nether- 
land did not exist. The Dutch patent was for purposes of 
trade only; it conferred no right to the soil. 

Negotiations dragged on for days. Connecticut's General 
Court refused to abide by the 1650 boundary agreement and 
insisted on full rights to "accept the surrender of the English 
towns/' arguing that it was impossible to restrain them since 
they had already rebelled against the Dutch. (But omitting 
to mention, of course, that Connecticut itself had deliberately 
provoked this revolt.) 2 

The baffled Dutch agents found themselves confronted by 
an ultimatum confirming Winthrop's annexation of West- 
chester. All Stuyvesant could do was to withdraw them and 
report to Holland, begging once anew that the States-General 
take up the whole dispute with England. 

But by attempting to raise the quarrel to an international 
level, Stuyvesant was unwittingly running into even greater 
dangers. Colonial and commercial rivalry between the two 
mother countries was at such an explosive point that it was 
about to burst into the Second Dutch War. At The Hague, Sir 
George Downing was busily intriguing against him; while 
John Scott, having contributed his own part to New Nether- 



THE PEOPLE'S CHOICE PRESIDENT SCOTT f 105 

land's downfall, by his Narrative's drastic suggestions of an 
English invasion, had just reached America officially bearing 
the royal Navigation Acts instructions which were salt in 
Holland's wounded self-esteem, and a deadly blow at her 
carrying trade. 

For nearly a year the old Dutch Director-General had been 
plagued by the "flying rumors" that Scott's petition to be 
made Long Island's governor had been granted. He thanked 
God when this proved untrue, but his peace of mind was 
short-lived as a succession of raiders attempted to wrest 
western Long Island from him. Young "hot-heads with a pre- 
tended commission from Hartford" had appeared shouting to 
Dutch settlers to renounce their citizenship, rioters had taken 
up arms at Gravesend, while "eight mounted and well-armed 
mutineers" entered Jamaica, urging with loud seditious talk 
that Hollanders pay neither tithes nor taxes. 

True, nothing came of it all. Raids petered out in personal 
squabbles and the riots merely led to the paying off of old 
private scores. But to add to the general unrest, Indian mas- 
sacres spread, forcing him into an expensive war; and even 
Nature seemed against the old Dutchman, for floods and an 
unwonted earthquake wrought terrible havoc. Heartsick and 
discouraged, he sent a few soldiers to quell the riots and made 
up his mind to accept Winthrop's Westchester ultimatum. 

John Scott's return to New England had quickened the 
tempo of revolt on Long Island. 

His boldly confident answers to all appeals heartened 
English subjects living in Dutch towns and longing to throw 
off bureaucratic tyranny; while inhabitants of English towns, 
threatened by Connecticut, saw in him their possible savior. 
The Dutch authorities, aware of increasing tension, re- 
doubled contacts with their home government; there was a 
flood of Remonstrances, Resolutions; Letters of Advice, 
Orders in Council. 

Winthrop now judged the moment propitious for another 
armed assault, formally to incorporate the whole of Long 



106 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

Island with his colony. To command the expedition he 
picked none other than John Scott, and the Connecticut 
governor himself administered the oath of office. 3 

But it was already too late for union. Unknown to Win- 
throp a situation had arisen on the island which Captain 
Talcott, who had commanded the first Long Island invasion, 
should surely have reported to his superior. 

The inhabitants of the English towns Hempstead, Graves- 
end, Flushing, Newtown, Oyster Bay and Jamaica refused to 
be annexed to Connecticut! They were no more anxious to 
pass under its Puritan rule than they relished being counted 
among Dutch colonials. There were Quakers, Baptists and 
other "subversive" sects, all anathema to Connecticut's re- 
ligious ruling. These righteous islanders foresaw future pun- 
ishment and coercion for their beliefs, and were determined 
to avoid such dire consequences. Moreover their recent 
petition to be protected from the Indians had brought only 
evasive double-talk from Hartford. And with the prospect of 
savage death and property destruction or confiscation, they 
considered their plight desperate. 

A short time before John's homecoming, they had entered 
into an agreement among themselves, a Combination, as they 
termed it, to manage their own affairs, irrespective of the 
River colony. 

Neither the w r ord nor action was without precedent. East- 
hampton's inhabitants had long since made a similar decision 
vis-a-vis Connecticut, declaring they would pay no taxes to 
Hartford, and would maintain their own administrative 
officers. 4 

With the sturdy assurance of settlers long familiar with 
Town-meeting government, these English townsmen resolved 
to draw up rules, elect deputies and choose their own magis- 
trates. As a last resort they had written John Scott begging 
him to give "his expert consideration" to their problems. By 
this act they not only recognized the influence he had won in 
London, but showed that his conduct on Long Island inspired 



THE PEOPLE'S CHOICE PRESIDENT SCOTT f 107 

them with confidence. Therefore, after receiving Winthrop's 
commission in Hartford, John went directly to Hempstead to 
confer with the delegates of the Combination which had in- 
voked his aid. 

"There was a full debate on January 4th, 1663/4," 5 cover- 
ing the matter of Connecticut's annexation orders. The dele- 
gates first explained their dread of Puritan rule and their 
determination to avoid it and preserve freedom of worship. 
Then John told them what he had heard at the Restoration 
Court and of Charles II's plans for taking Long Island and 
presenting it to his brother, the Duke of York. They "there- 
fore did further, fully empower Captain John Scott to act as 
president until His Royal Highness the Duke of York, or His 
Majesty could establish a government among them." 6 

This is the first recorded use of the presidential title in 
America. 

Their decision placed John before a terrible dilemma. On 
the one hand he had just accepted a commission forcibly to 
incorporate Long Island with Connecticut. On the other, as 
a Long Islander himself, he obviously shared the desires of 
the delegates from those autonomous towns to preserve their 
virtual independence. Moreover, although John's contacts 
with Winthrop in the Atherton Land Company had presum- 
ably been cordial he could hardly (as Episcopalian com- 
mitted to freedom of conscience) have had much sympathy 
with the "Puritan of Puritans"; while as a royalist and a 
protege of the Earl of Clarendon, 7 he felt very much the 
"King's servant." 

Winthrop had appointed him to high office in the colony, 
and John liked to be important. Yet the temptation to save 
Long Island both from the Dutch and from Connecticut and 
place it at his monarch's disposal must have been prodigious. 

John was never one to flinch from a challenge. Whatever 
his reasons, all we actually know is that "affairs being rip- 
ened" he made his choice. 

In the name of the delegates of the English towns, "he 



108 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

proclaimed the majesty of our dreade sovereign Charles II" 8 
over the disputed territories, and resigned Winthrop's com- 
mission. 9 

It was as President Scott, not as Hartford's emissary, that 
he wrote forthwith to Stuyvesant to clarify matters. Then 
away he rode to rouse the Englishmen and reduce the Dutch 
towns. 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

1. Early Col. Does., L.I., p. 517. 

2. Andrews, Col. Per. Am. Hist., Ill, 62n. 

3. Hoadley, Rec. of N. Hav., p. 541. 

4. Conn. Arch. Towns and Lands, I, Doc. 7, ff 8, 9. 

5. Ibid., f 25. 

6. Ibid. 

7. SP. Dom. Car., II, 29, No. 419. 

8. Conn. Arch. Towns and Lands, I, Doc. 7, ff 8, 9. 

9. Ibid., f 31; O'Callaghan, Hist, of N. Neth. Reg., II, 512. 



CHAPTER XV 



JOHN URGES THE DUTCH 
TO REVOLT 



". . . great affairs are not compassed by being afraid to 
attempt them; in doing them by half we betray our fear 
and stop in the midway as if we resolved to go back at the 
appearance of the first oppositions." 

-John Scott, Rawl. MSS., A 175, f 182. 



WITH FLAGS FLYING, trumpets sounding, and the insistent beat 
of drums, President Scott, at the head of a company of one 
hundred and fifty armed men, horse and foot, clattered into 
Breukelen on the western the Dutch end of Long Island. 
It was January 1 1th, 1664, a brisk, cold morning with a bright 
sun shining over the sparkling East River and highlighting 
the tall grass prairies which stretched in endless miles beyond 
the town limits. A morning for audacious, vigorous action to 
set the blood a-tingle. John halted his men before Sheriff 
Hegemann's house, and the uproar and confusion of their 
arrival attracted a group of settlers who began crowding 
round the newcomers, curious and somewhat fearful of all 
this military display. 

John dismounted and, accompanied by a few of his men, 
greeted the Sheriff affably, talking to him in the easy, compli- 
mentary fashion he had learned at Court. But the Dutchman 
responded with little grace. He was surprised by this sudden 
invasion and suspicious of the foreigner. Relations between 
Dutch and English on the island, he knew, had gone from 

109 



110 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

bad to worse over the years. But he was unprepared for a 
force of such formidable proportions all New Netherland 
had no greater. He demanded to know what they wanted. 

"Our business is with Peter Stuyvesant," answered John 
smoothly. "We came here hoping to see him. Though we 
understand from one of our messengers that the letter we 
recently sent him has given some offence. . . ." 

In a flowery epistle 1 John had written the Director-General 
announcing his own arrival and assuring him that it boded 
no hostile intent. But he pointed out certain "hostile acts 
committed by the Dutch" and made a significant reference to 
his own sovereign Lord and King, who was a "strict avenger of 
his people's wrongs." It concluded with the hope that a 
meeting between the writer and the Governor would be 
speedily effected, and ended by saying that all proof of the 
aforesaid details would be reserved "until I have the good 
fortune to kiss your hand, which will be tomorrow morning, 
about twelve of the clock at Flatbusch (Breukelen) if it please 
you to come and meet me there, which shall be considered a 
favor by him who is His Majesty's faithful servant. . . ." 
etc., etc. 

The letter, though a trifle high-handed, was not lacking in 
the customary courtesies. But on the envelope was written 
simply Petrus Stuyvesant. The stiff-necked Governor had, 
quite naturally, felt slighted at the informality of the address, 
and did not go personally to Brooklyn, but sent his com- 
missioners. 

"The Lords of the States-General and the Honorable West 
India Company must be so acknowledged/' observed the 
Sheriff, who had heard about the incident. "Failure to do so 
is not only a slight upon the persons in question but tends 
to disparage Their High Mightinesses in Holland as well/' 

John murmured appropriate excuses. He had no intention 
of explaining to the Sheriff that he had deliberately omitted 
the official title of "Director-General of New Netherland since 



JOHN URGES THE DUTCH TO REVOLT f 111 

it was precisely to deprive Stuyvesant of that title that he was 
undertaking this present mission. 

His eyes wandered to the growing numbers who crowded 
round his men, and lit up with satisfaction. 

"Do you hold any commission?" went on the Sheriff, mind- 
ful of his duties. "Have you some proposition to address to 
the Governor who has his abode now in Manhattan?" 

John brushed him aside. He had a commission, but more 
important to him, he had an audience. "I have a few words to 
say to these people," he answered, and ordering his troops to 
approach, he began to make a speech. 

He spoke in English, but with ringing, authoritative tones 
and a popular appeal that made his phrases intelligible to 
Dutchmen in the crowd. 

"This country you inhabit is unjustly occupied by your 
leaders," he told them. "It belongs to the King of England 
and not to the Dutch. If you acknowledge His Britannic 
Majesty's sovereignty you will be permitted to remain in 
your homes. Otherwise you will be forced to leave." 2 He 
repeated his words slowly, forcefully, extolling the benefits of 
English rule, impressing some of his listeners, angering others. 
The Sheriff, shocked, had meanwhile fetched the commis- 
sioners who had been sent to meet with John Cornelius Van 
Ryven, Secretary and Receiver-General of New Netherland; 
Stevens V. Cortlandt, New Amsterdam's Burgomaster; and 
John Lawrence, an Englishman who held various important 
positions under the Dutch. 

These had been waiting for John's arrival and had heard 
the concluding portion of his declaration. The worried 
Secretary went over to where the speaker stood. Nobody, he 
maintained, had the right to utter such words, nor to suggest 
that anyone other than the Lords States-General and the 
Incorporated West India Company had any rights there. The 
country had been discovered by the Dutch, purchased by them 
from the Indians, and parts of it peaceably possessed for thirty 
and forty years. He recited all the well-known arguments, and 



112 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

undertook to prove them all to Captain Scott's complete satis- 
faction, if only he would be so good as to accompany him to 
New Amsterdam (Manhattan). 

But John had noted the effect of his words on his listeners 
and had no intention of letting the initiative slip from his 
hands. He was not now inclined, he answered, to go over. 
But after some deliberation, he agreed to ride to the Ferry 
(leading to Manhattan) where he would await Mr. Stuyve- 
sant's visit. 

He was once again asked to show his commission but 
answered that his questioners should first produce theirs. The 
matter was allowed to drop. 

John left his foot soldiers with orders to march to Graves- 
end. Then leaping on his horse, and followed by his mounted 
troops, he rode with the Secretary to the Ferry where once 
again he harangued the crowd concerning the King of 
England's rights, and the freedoms Dutch would enjoy under 
his rule. 

This angered Van Ryven, who remonstrated that only the 
Lords States-General could be proclaimed here. John, catch- 
ing fire, retorted that if anyone were to speak for the States 
he could cut the feet from under them. Van Ryven professed 
not to understand such belligerent words. Whereupon Cap- 
tain Scott retorted in Dutch; "I will stick my rapier in the 
guts of any man who proclaims the States here or who says 
this is not the King's land/' 3 Murmurs of approval and ap- 
plause ran through the crowd behind him, and Secretary Van 
Ryven changed his tone. 

The whole boundary dispute could not be settled in such 
a manner, he murmured. It was a question to be taken up by 
their respective heads of government. His tactful words 
mollified John who readily admitted it would be no credit 
for armed troops to kill an unarmed man. 

"Though we come with but a hundred soldiers," he con- 
tinued, "we are prepared to wait. If my Company are ready 



JOHN URGES THE DUTCH TO REVOLT f 113 

to follow me, I do not fear to proceed to Manhattan and to 
proclaim the King there. 

"I do not have to remind you, I suppose, that your people 
have broken the peace between England and Holland. Your 
General dispatched a frigate of armed soldiers against certain 
Englishmen at Gravesend. I have the names of two who were 
so roughly handled that one died in consequence." 4 The 
ferryboat, meanwhile, was being readied for the trip to the 
mainland. Van Ryven and his fellow commissioners said they 
would cross over and report to the Director-General and the 
Council. Once again they asked Captain Scott for his com- 
mission, or for some writing they could show the Council. 

John drew from his pocket a memorandum in the form of 
instructions from the Hartford commissioners for himself and 
for Captain Youngs who was accompanying him. He began to 
read it aloud then, changing his mind, thrust it back in his 
pocket again. 

"Let Mr. Stuyvesant come over and I shall speak to him 
of weightier matters. I shall wait one hour for an answer/' 

His manner was so uncompromising that the Dutchmen 
felt there was little chance to do anything further. Leaving 
John Lawrence with him, they took the ferryboat to go and 
confer with Stuyvesant. Scott, however, did not wait for the 
Governor. News reached him that difficulties had broken out 
between the Dutch population and his soldiers and that the 
latter, excited and rather drunk, were running from house to 
house with drawn swords and daggers threatening the people 
and demanding the surrender of one of John's men who had 
been attacked with an axe. 

John rode back at once; he would brook no insubordi- 
nation among his troops. There had been enough lawlessness 
on Long Island. It would defeat his purpose to lose his initial 
advantage. Only too well he knew that in just such a manner 
a decade previously two serious English attempts to unseat 
Stuyvesant and repudiate Dutch rule had failed. He had no 
intention of adding his name to those unsuccessful standard- 



114 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

bearers, one of whomCaptain Underbill was serving under 
him now. 

True, the Director-General had been angered by his in- 
formal letter, and had been all for returning it unopened. But 
he finally permitted the messenger to read it aloud. And when 
his commissioners reported the details of that first Brooklyn 
meeting, Stuyvesant sent a note and acknowledged, not only 
John's letter, he recognized John's title as well! Archives in 
Holland refer to the presidency of Captain John Scott an(J 
mention the different magisterial appointments he made 
under it. 5 

Stuyvesant sent John a long official communication (address- 
ing him as Honorable, Prudent and Most Worthy Sir) in 
which he rehearsed the whole boundary quarrel, refuting the 
English charges and defending the Dutch position, point by 
point. He agreed to submit all differences either to the re- 
spective sovereigns in Europe; or to discuss it further with 
John at a future meeting. 6 The latter course was chosen and 
it was agreed to meet at Hempstead. 

It is this correspondence and Stuyvesant's readiness to 
treat with John that differentiate his intervention on Long 
Island from that of all the other agents and agitators. These 
made their appeals to the "silly common people without any 
address to us," as Stuyvesant put it; 7 whereas John, with a 
sangfroid born of past experience, had tackled matters in a 
different spirit and immediately at top level. Moreover his 
troops were not local recruits influenced by personal quarrels, 
but men assigned him by New Haven. 8 

Encouraged by these preliminaries and with the solid sup- 
port of his confederated English towns, John set out to win 
over the Dutch towns along the East RiverMidout, Amers- 
fort, New Utrecht, Boswyck, and of course Breukelen. He 
stormed in with his men, stirring up the Dutch inhabitants, 
delighting the few English; shouting to the assembled crowds: 
"Are you King's men or State's men?" He made inflammatory 
speeches exploiting old grievances, appealing to his listeners' 



JOHN URGES THE DUTCH TO REVOLT f 115 

sneaking desire for a share in local government. He threat- 
ened dire reprisals on those who resisted. But his personality 
and eloquence may well have impressed them; he introduced 
something of the English style and ceremony he had wit- 
nessed in London, and had the wit to dramatize it. 

At New Utrecht he took possession of the blockhouse, 
where he made a great symbolic act of having his men over- 
throw the cannon from the porthole it occupied. At his 
orders, the cannon was then set up in another, which he 
called the King's port. And he fired a salute to the King in 
commemoration of the event. He called upon all citizens to 
doff their hats to the English flag. When the son of Burgo- 
master Martin Krieger refused to do so, John struck him with 
a cane.* 9 He summoned the local magistrate and insisted he 
submit to the King's authority. The trembling man assured 
John that the King was already his friend since Holland was 
not at war with England, but that he himself was a subject 
of the Dutch to whom he had taken an oath of allegiance. 
John informed the inhabitants they must all change their 
allegiance. 

At Midout John had the British ensign hoisted in front of 
the Sheriff's house. Then, standing by it with uncovered 
head, his plumed hat held reverently over his heart, he ad- 
dressed the people at considerable length. Proud memories of 
all the majesty and sanctity of English law must have come 
flooding back to him, carrying him away with his own 
eloquence. In his letter to Stuyvesant, John had written that 
the liberty of His Majesty's good subjects was "more dear to 
me than my life." Now he dilated on the subject: greater 
freedom than ever would be theirs, he told his audience, since 
the land belonged to His Majesty King Charles II, right and 
lawful lord of all America from Virginia to Boston. They 



* There are two eye-witness accounts in different towns of young Krieger 
being caned "by the English." Either these erroneously attributed this in- 
cident to more than one place, or else Krieger was a brat who went around 
deliberately defying the English in order to provoke trouble. 



116 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

would have their own Assembly, they would elect their own 
Governor, choose their own officers, vote taxes it was the 
liberty and independence granted to all Englishmen at home 
and established in the colonies by the Founding Fathers. 
Henceforth they would pay no tithes to the West India 
Company, nor need they continue to obey Peter Stuyvesant. 
He was no longer their governor, not even a general, just a 
private citizen, like themselves. 10 He reiterated his phrases as 
forcefully as he could, pressing his points home with vivid e^- 
ample, gesticulating energetically to make his meaning clear. 

"He jabbered away like a mountebank," read the Dutch 
archives, which put John's "seditious acts," his "unblushing 
shamelessness," his "attendant mob/' in as unfavorable a 
light as possible. What other line was feasible, for the record? 
How else could they obliterate the memory of those winged 
words? Though the Dutchmen, crowding around him, did not 
grasp every fact, his intention and purpose were only too 
plain. There was explosive contagion in the force of his ideas. 
For nearly thirty years these good burghers on Long Island 
had meekly accepted conditions imposed by Stuyvesant in the 
name of the Trading Company, although Dutchmen in 
Holland enjoyed far greater independence, and the English 
example at their side was a daily reminder of their own cur- 
tailed liberties. Now a fiery eloquence reminded them of their 
plight, lit their imagination; their desires became suddenly 
articulate. 

But coupled with prospects of freedom was the possibility 
of having to fight for it if they were to attain it and remain 
Dutch. Thrilled as many might be at John's words, they were 
also afraid. They were afraid of losing the fat farms which 
they had wrung from the wilderness by years of unremitting 
toil; they feared for their fine houses, so solidly built of Dutch 
brick and tile, laboriously imported and exactly like buildings 
at home. And they were furious with Stuyvesant for leaving 
them in the lurch, for giving them no defense against the 
invader; while all the help the States-General offered were 



JOHN URGES THE DUTCH TO REVOLT f 117 

formal communications appealing to past loyalties, and tact- 
less reminders that many of them, instead of opposing these 
usurpers, were already seeking office from them. 

Yet the glimpse of citizen participation which John's 
speeches conjured before them seem to have run like wild- 
fire through their ranks. New Amsterdam's Burgomaster 
addressed a rousing Remonstrance to Stuyvesant, complain- 
ing bitterly not only of Long Island's situation, but of the 
precarious defenses of all New Netherland! Fortifications 
should be increased, he recommended, and a stepped-up 
recruiting plan put in action. "With two hundred men in 
separate vessels we could sack and destroy all the English 
settlements to Cape Cod," he concluded with unexpected 
vigor, while the magistrates roundly supported him. "All the 
English towns are open and entirely defenseless." 

Such bold measures apparently never occurred to the com- 
placent Director-General. 11 He pleaded that his funds were 
exhausted. But they would not let him off with so easy an 
excuse. 

Thirty thousand guilders were immediately subscribed to 
underwrite a new war. The national mood seemed suddenly 
to stiffen. 12 And as though John were aware of the change, 
he too became more insistent. The Dutch were convinced 
that he was receiving secret orders, or had some intelligence 
and encouragement from England. 13 Which, to a certain ex- 
tent, his instructions certainly gave him. 

What Stuyvesant most dreaded was that John's troops 
would provoke an act of violence or bloodshed and that he 
would then use this as a pretext to make himself master of 
the North River, plunder the towns and drive the Dutch 
out in utter ruin. 14 

As the Dutch towns began to waver and John's success 
seemed likely, he adopted a new strategy, playing for time to 
land his fish. When Stuyvesant sent his commissioners, a 
second time, with an official memorandum of terms to be dis- 
cussed, John was hard to locate. The Dutchmen rode eighteen 



118 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

hours to meet him in Rustdorp (January 15th) only to be told 
that he was still in Flushing. They sent a messenger there to 
inform him of their arrival, begging his presence. But when 
he galloped into town around four in the afternoon, he was 
still not ready to comply with their request. He put them off 
again, excusing himself by saying he was hungry, having not 
yet broken his fast; he would snatch a mouthful at the Minis- 
ter's house. He dined with the Reverend Zacheriah Walker 
and it was almost evening before he was available for the com* 
missioners at a meeting, where, despite their protests, his 
troops accompanied him. 

To the usual request for his commission he pulled out an 
unsigned document* and boasted, in an excess of enthusiasm, 
that the whole of Long Island had been granted to him. But 
his good sense immediately reasserted itself and he admitted 
that it had been granted to the Duke of York, whose agent 
he was. He reminded the crowds that not only had he been 
sent by Hartford to "assist His Majesty's subjects in their 
just cause," but that he had been invited to come by many 
of these self-same subjects, and was negotiating for them in his 
capacity as President. Would they acknowledge him as such? 
The crowd roared approval of President Scott. And instead 
of producing his commission, he read them a collection "from 
diverse histories" which showed that the English explorer 
Henry Hudson had discovered the North River in 1603, 
which made it indubitably an English possession. He did not, 



* This could well have been a copy of the instructions given him by the 
Committee of Foreign Plantations to devise means to "make the Dutch ac- 
knowledge and submit to His Majesty's government, or, by force, to compel 
them thereunto, or expulse them." N.Y. Col. Docs., Ill, 57-61; CSP Col. 
Ser. Am. and W. L, 1661-68, No. 713. Stuyvesant, reporting home, refers to "a 
certain letter in form of a commission written in favor of the aforesaid Scott 
to those of Long Island, copy whereof being handed to us I have thought 
necessary to annex it to the appendix No. 5. Dated Fort Amsterdam in N.N. 
last Feb. 1664." (N.Y. Col. Docs., II, 234.) 

This appendix however no longer exists. It was among the early West 
India Company papers, at The Hague, which were sold as waste paper in 
1821. Brodhead's Final Report. 



JOHN URGES THE DUTCH TO REVOLT f 119 

of course, mention that Hudson, at the time, was in the 
service of the Dutch East India Company, which would have 
meant that it belonged to Holland. 15 

"I shall return/' he pronounced in prophetic tones, putting 
his documents away. "I shall come back again in April of 
this year with my published commission." 16 And this time 
he was publicly admitting that he knew of the Duke's plans 
for that spring expeditionary force. 

Curiously enough, and despite the recommendations of 
his own Narrative, he did not seem to believe that the cam- 
paign would extend beyond Long Island. 

The Dutch commissioners meantime had produced their 
Memorandum, which he examined, and there was much dis- 
cussion of mutual terms. They all had supper amicably to- 
gether and then, "it being midnight, and fine weather," they 
resolved to return to Fort Amsterdam. It was John who had 
the final word. 

"There is only one way or means to put a stop to English 
claims to Long Island," he told them. "That is to see and 
agree as soon as possible with the Duke of York. I know for 
certain that the King has granted him the island, and he has 
been creditably informed it will furnish him revenues of 
thirty thousand pounds annually. The Duke is resolved if he 
cannot obtain it voluntarily, he will seize it by force and for 
that purpose will send two or more frigates to take not only 
the aforesaid Island, but the whole of New Netherland as 
well/' 17 That last was a bold threat John inserted himself, for 
his later statements and behavior prove that he did not 
believe the moment was ripe then for the taking of all New 
Netherland. 

This was the situation Stuyvesant so anxiously had to 
ponder as his commissioners returned, and the time ap- 
proached for the showdown with his opponent at Hempstead. 

Mindful of the budding independence fanned by John's 
oratory, the perplexed Director-General turned to his subjects 



120 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

for consultation and advice. The City fathers listened in 
amazement as Stuyvesant, for the first time during his long 
tenure of autocratic rule, assured them "he deemed it his 
duty" to ask them whether they would advise forcible meas- 
ures, and, if so, on what scale? 

That, of course, was the crux of the predicament. He was 
outnumbered, he told them, "as six to one/' This was a 
gross exaggeration, though he afterwards explained that he 
could not be certain that President Scott's hundred and fifty 
men might not, at any moment, be considerably reinforced 
from Connecticut, and he was in no position to oppose Con- 
necticut. 

It was insufferable, his listeners admitted, that such a mob 
should not only spark English revolt but seek to impose re- 
bellion on peace-loving Dutch subjects. 

The militant spirit showed signs of flagging, the freedom- 
fighters seemed losing their zest. Instead of devising strategies, 
the meeting began to seek scapegoats. The Lords-Director in 
Holland, they grumbled wrathfully, were really to blame. 
Protection was up to them. Why should solid burghers be 
expected to do anything more than look after their own cities? 
As for the forthcoming encounter with President Scott, they 
left that entirely up to their Director. 

And Stuyvesant, in reporting to the Amsterdam Chamber 
his final decision, signed himself your "faithful, forsaken, and 
almost hopeless servant and subject." 18 

He decided to make a truce with John. Delegates from the 
several English towns assembled with their President at 
Hempstead that February morning, 1664, "for the purpose of 
concluding a treaty." 19 Director Stuyvesant, escorted by a 
guard of ten soldiers, proceeded to meet them and draw up 
the terms of the agreement. 

"For the preservation of the good people and for the pre- 
vention of the effusion of blood," so it ran, all the English 
towns on the western end of Long Island were to remain un- 



JOHN URGES THE DUTCH TO REVOLT f 121 

molested under the King of England for the term of twelve 
months, and until His Majesty and the States-General settled 
all difference . . . during which period they were to have free 
access to the Manhattans, and the other places possessed by 
the Dutch, who, on their side, were to have like liberty to-* 
visit the English towns for trade or justice "according to the* 
laws of England/' The Dutch towns and bouweries were to> 
abide without molestation during the same time under the- 
States-General. (Italics added.) 

John signed this with his usual flourishes, Captain Under- 
bill witnessing the signature, two others signing as representa- 
tives of the Long Island towns. Van Cortland and John 
Lawrence were witnesses for Stuyvesant. 20 

The long dispute was over. John had won for England if 
not for himself. The Dutch had abandoned every point their 
enemies had assailed. Westchester was given up, the Connecti- 
cut River gone, and with this last documuent, Newton, 
Flushing, Jamaica, Hempstead and Gravesend passed out of 
their hands. This was the preliminary act which led to the 
outright surrender of all New Netherland. 

The armistice agreement made specific reference to Con- 
necticut's concurrence. Captain Youngs testified that "it was 
with the consent of Connecticut;" 21 so Governor Winthrop 
should have felt no great surprise at the turn of events. How- 
ever, he sent his Secretary of State, John Allyn, to Hempstead 
to seek out those obstreperous deputies who had dared to 
elect John President. John Scott did not hesitate to meet with 
him. He had resigned Connecticut's commission, he acknowl- 
edged, when he was elected the people's leader. Since he knew 
Long Island was not in Connecticut's charter, he probably 
considered that he-as its chief magistrate had as much right 
to operate there as had Winthrop . . . perhaps more! * It could 



* Thomas Thomson of Easthampton testified that he had heard John Scott 
declare that Connecticut had acted rebelliously . . . and that for his part, 
he was the King's sworn servant . . . Conn. His. Soc. Coll., XXIV (Hoadley 
Memorial), 10-11. 



122 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

have occurred to him that he was exceeding the King's 
authority. But John had grown to manhood in the shadow 
of individuals who exceeded authority with the greatest im- 
punity. 

Allyn reserved judgment and returned to report the situ- 
ation, while Winthrop fumed over the outcome. Most his- 
torians now agree that he had been personally involved in 
the intrigues to oust the Dutch from Long Island. 22 Those 
who had stirred the troubled waters in which he hoped tcf 
fish had been his own agents. Yet here was someone else who 
in the space of a few weeks had brought to a successful con- 
clusion a twenty-year-old dispute; whose plans to capture the 
place had not been unlike his own, but who, instead of adding 
to Connecticut's territory, had acted "in the name of the 
King and for the people's good." 

One can guess at the Governor's reactions. But John went 
tranquilly ahead swearing in his magistrates, confirming his 
appointments made according to the truce and his agreement 
with the Combination of English towns, administering oaths 
to men "to execute power under the King of England and 
without relation to Connecticut or any other colony," 23 
issuing passes for sojourn in New Amsterdam; 24 putting every- 
thing on record in a maddeningly legal manner. Not so tran- 
quilly he also began asserting his "magistractical" powers, 
secfking out those who dissented, imprisoning a luckless 
Walter Salter of Flushing for disrespect to his Majesty, threat- 
ening to hang the same for such offense. 25 

Winthrop's patience boiled over. He summoned his Gen- 
eral Assembly, and at his bidding it acted with unusual 
promptitude. It issued a proclamation a hue and cry for 
the arrest of John Scott. And it threatened to take action 
against anyone who interfered with the course of justice, 
or did not immediately give aid to those officers of the law 
"proceeding against a notorious malefactor." 



JOHN URGES THE DUTCH TO REVOLT f 123 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

The conversation in this chapter is taken, verbatim, from existing 
documents. 

1. N.Y. Col. Docs., II, 393. 

2. Ibid., 394. 

3. Ibid. 

4. Ibid. 

5. O'Callaghan, N.N. Reg., pp. XX, 87, 146. 

6. N.Y. Col. Docs., II, 396^-98. 

7. Early Col. Docs. L.I., p. 518. 

8. N.Y. Col. Docs., II, 515, 550. 

9. Ibid., 404, 405. 

10. Ibid. 

11. O'Callaghan, Hist, of N.N., pp. 502, 503. 

12. Ibid. 

13. N.Y. Col. Docs., II, 406 

14. Ibid., 231, 406. 

15. Ibid., Ill, 399-400. 

16. Ibid., 402; Conn. Hist. Soc. Coll., XXI, 146. 

17. N.Y. Col. Docs., II, 234, 400. 

18. Ibid., 232. 

19. O'Callaghan, N.N. Reg. (1626-74), p. 146. 

20. Conn. Arch., MSS. Coll., I, No. 6 (Papers of Robert Winthrop). 

21. Ibid. 

22. N.Y. Col. Docs., Ill, 381; Conn. Arch., Col. Boundaries, II, f 10. 

23. Conn. Arch., Towns and Lands, I, f 23c. 

24. Call, of N.Y. Hist. MSS., pit. 1, X, 13. 

25. Conn. Arch., Towns and Lands, I, f 37. 



CHAPTER XVI 



GOVERNOR WINTHROP STRIKES 



". . . when Connecticut's imperialistic ambitions were grati- 
fied and she obtained a charter which gave her all her 
neighbour's territory, a very large proportion of New 
Haven's inhabitants indicated that they preferred the 
'Christless rule' of Connecticut ... to that of New 
Haven's churches. Throughout the whole process of ab- 
sorption of the smaller colony by its aggrandized neighbour, 
both the action and the manner of Connecticut are diffi- 
cult to defend." 

James Truslow Adams. The Founding of 
New England , p. 319. 



ONE GREY MARCH MORNING, in 1664, a small detachment of 
Connecticut troops, reinforced by some tough-looking Indi- 
ans, stealthily crept along the sandy shore towards the ex- 
treme west end of Setauket Harbor, known thenand now 
as Scott's Cove. They had come over from the mainland under 
the command of Nathan Seeley, a Hartford marshal, who had 
received orders to proceed as unobtrusively as possible. Their 
movements, however, did not escape the sharp eyes of John 
Scott, who was in residence at Scott's Hall, his new estate, 
where he had retired after signing the truce with Stuyvesant. 
His wife and children, several servants and twelve of his New 
Haven followers were with him, and when Winthrop's armed 
men entered the grounds and were within twenty or thirty 
rods, he called out, and in the King's name commanded them 
to stand off at their peril. 1 

Surprised that he had seized the initiative, they halted in 



GOVERNOR WINTHROP STRIKES "J" 125 

indecision and John immediately ordered them off his land. 
This time they did not move. 

"In the King's name I demand your business!" he shouted. 
Seeley, noting the presence of the New Haven veterans, 
requested a parley, and John, never one to refuse a reasonable 
offer, granted it. Each approached the other accompanied by 
two musketeers. John and Nathan Seeley faced each other 
belligerently, and the marshal said he had come with orders 
for his arrest. 

"On what grounds?" demanded John. 

Seeley read him the commission he held from Connecticut, 
charging Scott with "sundry heinous crimes touching His 
Majesty," and asked John if he would surrender quietly. 

"I would sacrifice my life's blood on the ground before 1 
ever yield to you or to any of Connecticut's jurisdiction with 
that of New Haven," was John's answer. And his men behind 
him applauded and shouted "So will we." 

Seeley shuffled uneasily, baffled and perplexed. 

"Stay a moment," went on Scott, quick to follow up an 
advantage. "I will fetch you a letter under Governor Win- 
throp's own hand. I do not doubt but that it will satisfy you 
fully." 

He went into the house and brought back a letter, reading 
it to the officer, declaring it was dated March 25th (after- 
wards corrected to March 14th old style). It was about the 
Governor's wish to meet John and talk over the Narragansett 
proposition. 

"If you will go back to your company," declared John, "I 
will procure a commission under His Majesty's seal, which 
will put me in command of you all." 

He made a dramatic flourish, producing a document and 
declaring he would go down to Seeley's company and read 
this same commission. And he would see if the proudest 
among them dared touch him! 

Young Daniel Gotherson, who had followed John out of 
the house, watched the proceeding with widening eyes. The 



126 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

array of soldiers seemed frightening enough, but it was the 
Indians, their faces dark and impassive as they fingered their 
white man's weapons, who most appalled him. 

John strode alone to the head of the group. He read his 
paper, which, he said, had the "seal manual" on it. 

"Take me if you dare," he shouted. "1 will see if the 
proudest among you will dare lay hands on me." 

There was a long pause. Then, at a signal from the marshal, 
the Indians fell on him, and Seeley shouted: "I arrest you iij 
the King's name and charge you to follow me/' 2 

The New Haveners protested angrily as John struggled 
with his captors, but Seeley 's troops held them at bay. The 
marshal then demanded that John turn over certain men 
who had accompanied him on his recent campaign. These 
were Captain Woodall arid two other magistrates who had 
been commissioned by Winthrop to go along with Scott to 
help reduce the Long Island towns to Connecticut. John 
ignored the command, nor did Seeley's threats intimidate 
him, helpless as he was. He ordered his own men to look 
after them and take them back to New Haven. Seeley, feeling 
no doubt that he had his hands full enough with this ob- 
streperous prisoner, let the matter drop. He gave summary 
orders to the Indians and his troops, and John was over- 
powered and dragged away, struggling wildly, cursing, and 
threatening his captors with the gallows. 

Daniel followed the disorderly procession, horrified at the 
sight but unable to help. After some time Seeley, who had 
received orders to avoid public places, turned into a narrow 
footpath through the woods and young Gotherson grew 
afraid as the dark trees closed about them. He turned to 
run. 

"Stay with me, stay with me," implored John, fearful of 
what might happen to himself or to the boy, and needing him, 
perhaps, as a witness to the violent scene. But Daniel con- 
tinued his flight. 

Arriving at a lonely wayside inn, John insisted that the boy 



GOVERNOR WINTHROP STRIKES f 127 

be taken in and looked after, which was done. And then the 
Indians hurried their captive away.* 

Bound, and like a criminal, he was dragged through iso- 
lated ways, then thrust into a waiting ship. Seeley had been 
expressly commanded, by no means to proceed through New 
Haven. Realizing John's great popularity there, Winthrop, 
it would seem, feared some reaction in that quarter with a 
possible rescue of the prisoner. The orders effectively pre- 
vented this, and John, despite his wild imprecations, was 
ultimately delivered at Hartford. 

By this time the General Assembly had blown up the 
original charge into a formidable case. 3 But John, disregard- 
ing his deplorable condition after the terrible journey, had 
lost neither his courage nor his legal sense. He protested 
formally that Connecticut Colony Courts were prejudiced, 
and offered to stand trial before any court in New Haven, 
Boston, Pl^nouth or Virginia. 4 He then lodged an official 
complaint against the marshal who had arrested him and 
against his accusers/' All this Winthrop brushed off as mere 
impertinence and had John thrown into jail, chained to iron 
stocks, to await trial. 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

1. Conn. Arch. Towns and Lands, I, 31. 

2. Ibid., ff 31-33. 

3. Rec. of Part. Crt. (Probate-Rec. Conn.), Ill, 16. 

4. Conn. Hist. Soc. Coll, III, 154-55 (Wyllys Papers). 

5. Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., 4th sen, VI, 525. 



* Daniel's mother, Dorothea Gotherson, gives this account of her son's 
disappearance from John's custody, though her letter has always been studi- 
ously ignored and John accused of "barbarously selling him into slavery." 
The boy was later found at a New Haven inn, where he was performing quite 
menial tasks, and was subsequently redeemed by his family for 7. RawL 
MSS., A 175, ff 149, 98. 



CHAPTER XVII 



CONDEMNED AND VINDICATED 



Sense: Wilt thou all the glory have 

Which war or peace commends? 
Half the world shall be thy slaves 
The other half thy friends 

Soul: What friends? if to myself untrue? 
What slaves unless I conquer you? 

John Scott, Combat between 
Soul and Senses. 
Rawl. MSS., A 176. 



THE NEWS OF JOHN'S ARREST caused an immediate reaction 
throughout all New England, for thoughtful and influential 
people at the time all regarded this as a shocking event. 

One of the first to appeal to Governor Winthrop was Cap- 
tain Underbill,* who wrote his "honored Unkell" how much 
he was "trobbled by your unexpected burden from the west 
of Long Island/' He marvelled how people could offend 
God by "torning and torning again. Create was the people's 
cri for Captain Scott, he sought not them, but they him. They 
cried him up, Hosanna today, and down with him to- 
morrow." 1 

This statement, coming from one who was with John 
throughout his whole campaign, is highly revealing, although 



* Underbill's second wife was the daughter of "the Winthrop woman" 
widow of one of Winthrop's sons. Underbill always addressed Winthrop as 
uncle, and was used by the latter as chief "trouble shooter" on Long Island. 



CONDEMNED AND VINDICATED f 129 

Underbill himself "had his mind changed" later by his "diere 
and louing onckel."* 

Protests began pouring into Hartford, many from the high- 
est in the land. The Reverend John Davenport put in an 
immediate plea. Davenport was the most celebrated noncon- 
formist preacher in the New World and the founder of New 
Haven. When he had quit England during the great Puritan 
Migration his acknowledged eminence then had attracted 
Archbishop Laud's attention, who mentioned him by name 
to Charles I. 

It was, Davenport assured Winthrop, the love he bore the 
governor that constrained him to protest John's arrest. 

"The acting of your General Assembly doth seem very 
strange, if not irrational to unbiassed observers and hearers 
thereof," he wrote. And he outlined four serious infractions 
of the law involved in the action; (1) that they take accusa- 
tions against such a man as Captain Scott from such witnesses 
as his accusers (against whom he has protested officially) 
would be enough to discredit their testimony in any court in 
England; (2) Winthrop's marshal was sent to New Haven, 
Branford, Milford, Stratford and Fairfield to apprehend Cap- 
tain Scott just as though these places were already under 
Connecticut's jurisdiction, and this at the General Court's 
orderslf (3) The marshal's commission stated that if any 
officers were to resist or delay delivery of what was demanded, 
they were to be charged with "abetting and concealing a 
notorious malefactor. 2 Which accusation the marshal made 
twice, most absurdly. . . ." (It is evident that Winthrop ex- 
pected opposition to the arrest, or the warrant would not 
have been so worded.) (4) "The law of England does not 



* Stuyvesant reported to Holland that the people of Long Island, who 
had first elected John Scott as President, afterwards had their minds changed 
by those of Hartford. N.Y. Col. Does., IT, 407. 

( Davenport had strenuously opposed New Haven's union with Connecti- 
cut, above all Winthrop's highhanded manner of obtaining it. Mass. Hist. 
Soc. Coll., 4th Ser., VII, 523-24. 



130 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

allow any man to be proclaimed a malefactor until con- 
victed." 

Davenport wrote more in sorrow than in anger and his let- 
ter is phrased in most respectful terms. It was customary at 
this period for churchmen to transact public affairs, so his 
intervention was entirely within his province. But his indig- 
nation took on political and personal overtones as he declared 
Winthrop's action was abundant cause to refuse any union 
with a colony which "multiplied injuries against us. Fqr 
yourself, Honored Sir," he added, "I fear you will not do 
yourself right unless you protest against these irregular, il- 
legal, I had almost said, unchristian actings, and enter it 
upon record." 3 

Another formal protest reached Winthrop from Richard 
Bellingham, a Patentee of the original Massachusetts Charter, 
Boston magistrate and onetime Governor of Massachusetts. 
It is plainly indicative of John's good standing that charac- 
ters like this sprang to his aid. 

Bellingham dwells on the disgraceful details of John's 
arrest, reminding Winthrop that "this gentleman is one for 
whom his Majesty hath respect and that, during his late resi- 
dence at Court, he approved himself faithful to the interest 
of His Majesty and of his subjects in these United Colonies." 

Governor Bellingham assures Winthrop that he has no 
desire to "intermeddle in others' affairs," but writes as a 
faithful friend trying to be helpful in sending an account of 
the circumstances which have made "an awful impression in 
some parts, the consequences of which" (if Winthrop, in his 
prudence, does not prevent) "may be truly dreadful." 4 

Much more indignant was William Leete's letter to Win- 
throp on March 31st, 1664. Leete, a noted Puritan and staunch 
republican, had been Cromwell's agent in the New World. 
He was one of the original signers of the New Haven Planta- 
tion Covenant and its governor from 1661 until its union 
with Connecticut in 1665. In spite of this long association, 
however, he had never opposed Winthrop's annexation of 



CONDEMNED AND VINDICATED 



that colony (an attitude his fellow-colonists did not share.) 
Indeed, we may suppose that he sympathised with the latter's 
expansionist aims, for in a previous letter addressed to Win- 
throp in London (April 12, 1661), he had written: 

"I wish that you and we could procure a patent to reach be- 
yond Delaware, ... If war should arise between Holland 
and England it might suit the King's interest; a little re- 
sistance might so reduce all to England." 5 (Italics added.) 

What Leete had only hinted at, John had been bold enough 
to accomplish. And when one of his servants arrived post 
haste to inform the governor of his arrest, Leete went im- 
mediately to New Haven to take " large and ample testi- 
mony/' as he assured Winthrop, concerning the "violent 
surprisal of Captain Scott/' and of the "unusual warrant and 
the hostile seizure in time of parley ... by a kind of Army, 
part English, part Indian"; dragged from his own land, 
"which he held by Patten under the Broad Seal, then and 
there shown unto his surprisers, as also was the commission 
under the Kings sign manual for his conduct and assistance. 
And this too, in addition to the well known fact that he held 
the King's letter addressed to the four colonies under which 
he is daily expected to act in pursuit of His Majesty's 
pleasure/' (Italics added.) 

Leete's indignation boils over remembering how all this 
"was slighted" and of Scott, he wrote: 

"His Majesty's domestic and public servant, one of consid- 
erable interest and expectation at Court, also a known friend 
of this country, and enemy to the New England enemies . . . 
and yet he must be ignominiously handled and interrupted. 
And that, after, if not because, he asserts the King's preroga- 
tive and the Duke's interest upon Long Island, opposite to 
Connecticut's claims by the Charter." (Italics added.) 

(Leete did not flinch from accusing Winthrop to his face and 
putting his finger on the crux of the matter. "This seems 



132 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

strange to me, as (I believe) it will to yourself. . . . how he 
hath been branded with the infamy of a notorious malefactor 
and so dealt with thus far/' 

The writer goes on to express a hope that Winthrop "inter- 
pose in the matter." In these lines, however, Leete can only 
be suspected of irony, for he must have known that the war- 
rant for John's arrest came, after all, from Connecticut's Gen- 
eral Assembly, and that its terms read aloud in court 6 
sanctioned such unprecedented action. "Assuredly this action 
and the manner of it is like to be so universally evilly re- 
sented in New England and Old, that it gain some to prose- 
cute for vindication, in a high degree," he warned. 7 (Italics 
added.) 

From Plymouth Colony came a letter from the Governor 
and his Assistants in John's defense, "having never," as it 
stated, "heard anything but that Captain Scott was a gentle- 
man well deserving of the country, one that his Majesty was 
pleased to employ in his service." 8 

It is evident from the intervention of all these distinguished 
men that they not only felt that Winthrop was acting in- 
judiciously, but that the case was sensational enough to have 
repercussions in England. Leete was particularly afraid that 
Scott's person was endangered, "and that, fatally." Therefore 
he offered to send some of his officials to Hartford to testify 
in the prisoner's favor, 9 calling attention to the "extremity 
of danger he is now in" and urging the magistrates to do 
their best to prevent Scott's "ruin." 10 (Italics added.) 

The Massachusetts Council also sent official representatives 
to Hartford Major-General John Leverett and Captain Wil- 
liam Davis to intervene personally before the trial and sup- 
port the prisoner's plea that his case be tried elsewhere in an 
unprejudiced court. 

Other commissioners to intercede were Captain William 
Bradford and Thomas Southworth from Plymouth, and Cap- 
tain Prince from New Haven. 11 Their concern was urgent 
and sincere. They were also aware, and probably remembered 



CONDEMNED AND VINDICATED j- 133 

with some misgiving, that John was privy to all their recent 
political deals with the King's ministers at Whitehall, and 
they certainly would not have wished to have such matters 
made public should John decide to defend himself by im- 
plicating them a tactic he never adopted. 

Nor did John lack for supporters among the rank and file 
either. The freedom-loving people of the English Towns, for 
whom he had deserted Winthrop, loyally sprang to his de- 
fense. A document, signed by one hundred and forty-four 
citizens of Hempsteacl, Newark (Jamaica), Folestone and 
Hastings, declared they were "fully satisfied with the new 
arrangement and the magistrates elected and sworn in under 
its provisions," and praised Captain Scott, "our chosen Presi- 
dent, without whose assistance our towns would have been 
in a confusion by reason of the divisions among us." While 
it expressed the most courteous reference to Connecticut's 
General Assembly, it stated nevertheless that "if you should 
intermeddle we might declare to the world . . . your design 
to destroy us." 12 

From Flushing came a Remonstrance, signed by thirty-nine 
inhabitants, many of them Quakers, reciting the "miseries 
and indecisions under Dutch rule" and stating in the most 
emphatic terms that "the worthy Captain Scott had acted in 
accordance with the will of the people" only after "our very 
strongest solicitations did prevail upon him," and that his 
"unparalleled industry" on their behalf "maligned by a few 
malevolent spirits" had brought to an end a "labyrinth of 
confusion and trouble. If we should, at such a time as this, 
be silent we should be showing the greatest ingratitude in the 
world and the very stones, in our silence, might rise to pro- 
claim his innocence." 13 (Italics added.) 

How the sensitive Winthrop must have writhed under such 
universal condemnation! Only a year before he had borne the 
brunt of New Haven's bitter criticism of his Charter ma- 
neuvers, and now again he was being censured. Rarely has a 
Governor been so rebuked, and the subject of such concerted 



134 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

disapproval. How he must have wished that the whole matter 
could be quietly disposed of without a public trial! 

From the records it looks as if someone pushed such an 
idea to almost fatal lengths. Suddenly, John became deathly 
ill. Governor Leete informed his Council that "Mr. Scott's 
trial is said to be on the 8th of May next, if he be not dead 
before, as was like to have been the other day, by poison." 14 
(Italics added.) 

The same terrible suspicion that someone was trying to, 
do away with him was repeated by Deborah Scott in her ap- 
peal to Governor Winthrop, surely one of the most touching 
letters of the century. 

The original, preserved in the archives of the Massachusetts 
Historical Society in Boston, proves what an exceptional 
character she was. In an age when most women could neither 
read nor write even the outstandingly competent and 
doughty Lady Moody could only trace her name in large 
block letters Deborah wrote four pages of neat script with 
well-spaced lines and margins. Lacking all elegant flourishes, 
it is true, but most legible, the text and signature are in the 
same round hand, and the letter's only blemishes are the 
faint, circular stains blurring some of the words her tears, 
falling on the paper as she wrote. 

"For the Worshipful Governor Winthrop at Connecticut. 
Having an opportunity, I could not omit but present to 
your consideration my sad and disconsolate state, being 
exceedingly afflicted and disturbed in my spirit, in respect 
of the injurious charges of some of our Colony against my 
dear husband who hath not meritted any such thing at 
their hands. 

"So I doubt not but yourself can testify; but if they had 
any just occasion of difference he has tendered them a legal 
hearing anywhere but among them that are his professed 
enemies, as you have been fully certified by some of our 
friends. 

"Therefore, I shall not trouble you with much at this time, 



CONDEMNED AND VINDICATED j" 135 

only concerning myself, who am not well and with child, 
and with the daily rumors which I hear do so aggravate my 
sorrow that I fear it will bring me to an untimely end; for 
I think it is his life they are at. [Italics added.] 

"Sir, I think as you are Chief, it does behoove you to 
show yourself active in this thing, lest the last end of it be 
worse than the beginning; for it is not enough for one in 
your place to stand as a neuter; for Pilate washing his hands 
did not excuse him, and the wise man saith, if thou forbear 
to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that 
are ready to be slain, if thou sayest behold, we knew it not; 
doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it, and he 
that keepeth the souls of all men doth he not know and 
shall he not render to every man according to his works! 
But if you forbear to speak, I hope God will rend out some 
other way both for his and my safety and deliverance. Thus 
with my humble services to you and Madame Winthrop 
I subscribe myself, 

Your servant, 
Deborah Scott" 

But Winthrop remained obdurate. John had thwarted his 
ambition of grasping captivating Long Island; that little 
jewel on the Sound he had wanted for over twenty years.* 
Beside this loss, his annexation of Westchester seemed tame 
and unimportant. He was not touched by the appealsindeed 
he seemed angered by the widespread intervention, treating 
his prisoner yet more harshly, and keeping him in heavy 
chains even when brought to court to be arraigned at the bar. 

At the beginning of May Connecticut's General Assembly 
declared all John's property within the limits of the Colony 
sequestered, and commissioners were appointed to take an 
exact invoice of his estates. 15 



* As early as 1636 Winthrop had tried to buy a large tract of Long Island 
land from the Sachem of the Western Niantics but the United Colonies com- 
missioners would not permit his verbal arrangements with the Indians. Mass. 
Hist. Soc. Coll., IV, Vol. 7, 57 n. 



136 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

Convinced of the Tightness of his cause, John was no sub- 
missive prisoner. He was violent, abusive, heaping threats 
on his jailer and all who came near him. For this conduct he 
was placed in even heavier shackles and the jailer ordered to 
treat him with greater severity. One can imagine how all the 
old sense of injustice and fury must have revived under such 
ignominious treatment. 

But anger did not blind his reason, and his innate good 
sense ultimately prompted an apology to rid himself of the 
shameful irons. 

With tongue-in-cheek abasement, he addressed "an hum- 
bell petition" to the Hartford Court, stating that he had 

"Run himself into a labyrinth of misery by the evil advice 
of bad instruments as well as his corrupt nature . . . and 
knowing that you sit in God's stead, who delights in shewing 
mercie, do, for His sake, beseech your favorable report, 
which shall be deemed by your poor suppliant a signal 
kindness never to be forgot, . . ." 10 etc., etc. 

He knew how to pour it on. And that touch about sitting in 
God's stead was a calculated tribute to the august magistrates 
who really exercised a police power practically absolute and 
wholly supported by the church. 

The irons were removed. It was the least that Winthrop 
could do, for John, after all, had not originally opposed the 
latter's claim to Long Island. This he had made clear at that 
historic Hemps tead meeting. 

Indeed, he had written Secretary Williamson in London, 
praising Winthrop's prompt action in stepping in to oppose 
the "cruel and rapacious Dutch on Long Island." 17 And his 
own truce with Stuyvesant, with the exception of one small 
detail, was not unlike Winthrop's ultimatum to the Dutch 
Commissioners. By the latter's terms, Westchester on the 
mainland was to be English, and the disputed Long Island 
towns were to remain autonomous "untill there be a deter- 



CONDEMNED AND VINDICATED f 137 

minatton of the case/' 18 (Italics added.) In John's truce, West- 
chester went to the English, while the other towns "should 
remain under the King of England . . . until His Majesty 
and the States-General do fully determine the whole differ- 
ence. . . ." (Italics added.) 

Therein lay the crux. John had put an end to Long 
Island's turmoil, but its ownership was still not settled, for 
he had not established the Duke of York's jurisdiction. 

It was not only Winthrop's sounder political judgment that 
kept him silent about the English King's designs, whereas 
John had openly boasted of this knowledge. Discretion 
served Winthrop's own purpose, for doubtless he himself 
intended making the ' 'determination" about those island 
towns (or at least influencing it). His proprietorship of Long 
Island would thus never be questioned. 

John aroused his ire, "and the jealousy of the General 
Court," says Riker, 19 not only by bringing an age-old quarrel 
to a swift conclusion, but by leaving the island's ultimate fate 
open to discussion, and thus thwarting Governor Winthrop's 
attempt at a quick snatch. 

For that he had to pay. His trial was set for May 24th. John 
was well aware of the peculiarities of contemporary law 
courts, where presentment of a case before a panel of jurors 
was practically tantamount to conviction. 20 So he waived his 
right to trial by jury and was brought before the Court of 
Magistrates, Connecticut's Particular Court. 

There were ten charges against him, 21 of which the first, 
and most serious, was speaking words tending to defame the 
King's Majesty. He was also charged with gross profanation 
of God's Holy Day and calumniating a Commission officer! 
There was no word of the real cause of Winthrop's wrath. 
(Appendix F) 

The Court found him guilty of all ten charges, of course 
(Leete wrote "Scott was sentenced before he was heard.") 22 
and ordered him to pay a fine of two hundred and fifty 



138 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

pounds; to continue in prison during the Court's pleasure; 
and to find security for his good behaviour in the sum of 
five hundred pounds. It also degraded him from his Long 
Island magistracy and disenfranchised him. Captain Youngs 
was ordered to sell his property to pay the fines (exorbitantly 
high, for not one person in ten had any cash income). It is 
interesting to note, too, that the order for the sale preceded 
the verdict by some thirteen days! 23 No wonder John con- 
sidered Connecticut's courts prejudiced. And it certainly 
looks as though someone were in a very great hurry to get 
hold of his land. 

John did not "pleasure the Court" however, by remaining 
long in prison. He had other plans in defiance of the Gov- 
ernor. He had managed to survive attempted murder and 
was not to be deterred by iron bars. With the imminent pros- 
pect of injustice triumphant, he could only resort to native 
wit, and the active assistance of the patient Deborah. He 
petitioned the Court for a meeting with his wife and brother- 
in-law Joseph, a visit apparently allowed him. Gossip records 
that Deborah was later observed approaching the prison pre- 
cincts "being then big with child." Gossip, for once was right. 
And she was considerably bigger, no doubt, from the coil of 
rope she carried under her skirts. John's garret cell was "three 
stories high/' too lofty even for his cool nerve and long legs 
to negotiate without some pretty stout assistance. 

Before summer was over he made his getaway. Sustained 
by the knowledge of his own innocence, and with or without 
Joseph's help, and that of his Quaker friends in Flushing, he 
went right back to Long Island where, significantly enough, 
Winthrop did not dare arrest him again. 

John's erstwhile jailer, Dan Garrad, complained to the 
Court (in July) that John's escape left him in debt for "diet 
and time attending him for the space of twelve weeks." 

The court allowed the man ten pounds (out of John's 
money) "if he can come by it." 24 



CONDEMNED AND VINDICATED j- 139 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

1. Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., 4th ser., VII, 525. 

2. Conn. Pub. Rec., I, 421. 

3. Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., 4th ser., VII, 525-26. 

4. Ibid., 596-97. 

5. Ibid., 549. 

6. Conn. Pub. Rec., I, 418. 

7. Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., 4th scr., VII, 553-55. 

8. Conn. Arch. Towns and Lands, I, f 34 A. 

9. Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., 4th scr., VII, 553-55 

10. Hoadlcy, Rec. of N. Hav., p. 540. 

11. Ibid., p. 541. 

12. Conn. Arch. Towns and Lands, I, f 26a. 

13. Ibid.,f 32, b, c. 

14. Hoadley, Rec. of N. Hav., p. 540. 

15. Conn. Pub. Rec., I, 430. 

16. Conn. Arch. Towns and Lands, I, f 38. 

17. N.Y. Col. Docs., Ill, 47; Conn. Pub. Rec., XV, 537. 

18. Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., 4th ser., VII, 189. 

19. Riker, Annals of Newtown, pp. 60-61. 

20. Columbia Law Review, XXI (1931), 416-48. 

21. Rec. of Part. Crt.,111, 16. 

22. Mass. Hist. Soc. CM., 4th ser., VII, 554. 

23. Conn. Pub. Rec., JI, 16. 

24. Ibid., I, 436; IX, 57. 



CHAPTER XVIII 



ENGLAND ACQUIRES 
NEW NETHERLAND 



"Courage, Courage my soul now learn to wield 
The weight of thy immortal shield." 

John Scott. 



WHILE JOHN LANGUISHED IN PRISON history was in the making. 
The suggestion, outlined in his Narrative, that the Dutch 
were less firmly entrenched at New Amsterdam than was 
formerly believed sparked a plot which had been a-brewing 
in London more than a year. The energetic Duke of York, 
England's Lord High Admiral, with men close to the King 
like Lord Berkeley and Carteret, as well as prominent mer- 
chants, aided and abetted by the implacable Downing, had 
all had predatory eyes fixed on the Manhattans, center and 
heart of the Dutch trading area. 

John's Narrative, complaining of Dutch encroachments 
and recommending action, had the advantage of stressing 
local conditions and pointing out how cheap such conquest 
would be a telling point with the impecunious Charles. It 
was included in a report submitted January 29th, 1664, and 
proved, as C. M. Andrews points out, to be "more directly 
influential" than others in the general preparations for Eng- 
land's first armed invasion of the North American continent. 
Whatever the ethics of the case, the logic of the situation 
was irresistible. 

In March 1664, Charles II formally granted to his brother 

140 



ENGLAND ACQUIRES NEW NETHERLAND f 141 

James all the territory between the Connecticut River and 
Delaware Bay New Netherlands exact boundaries. The 
grant specifically included Long Island, for which thirty-five 
hundred pounds was to be paid to the fourth Earl of Stirling, 
heir of the original grantee.* The entire transaction was 
naturally a top secret, even after the expeditionary force, 
under the command of Colonel Richard Nicolls, was already 
on the high seas. 

Three others, Sir Robert Carr, Sir George Cartwright and 
Samuel Maverick were nominated with Colonel Nicolls as 
royal commissioners to take possession of the country and 
settle the boundaries. As a secondary objective they were in- 
structed to investigate the "arrogant theocratic government 
of Massachusetts/' whose growing independence angered the 
Privy Council. 

Nicolls sailed from Portsmouth on May 15th. His ships lost 
each other in the fog, but about July 20th the Commander 
and Sir Robert Carr touched Cape Cod, and a week later all 
reached Boston. The commissioners had been authorized to 
raise additional troops in New England, and for a full month 
they haggled with Massachusetts sharp-witted Puritan magis- 
trates, who showed little inclination to comply and partici- 
pate in the attack on New Netherland. Connecticut proved 
more amenable. Governor Winthrop, tactfully complying 
with a decision he could not prevent, turned it to his own 
advantage. He met the ships and obtained from Nicolls a 
promise that all that Connecticut had established on Long 
Island should be recognized by the incoming governor. As- 
suring himself by this agreement that his own recent land 
rulings would be upheld, Winthrop placed himself and some 



* The Duke of York expected to borrow this sum from his father-in-law, 
the Earl of Clarendon. But he never paid it, but promised Stirling instead 
300 annually, from the profits of the province. As there were no net profits, 
Stirling received nothing; and in 1687 petitioned the Treasury for payment. 
(Cal. Tr. Books, VIII, part III, 1174-75; ibid, IX, 237.) By 1760 a second 
petition put the amount due at 7,000. After this date, however, all recogni- 
tion of the claim fades from public records. 



142 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

troops at Nicolls' disposal to join the march on the Man- 
hattans. 

A rendezvous was fixed for the west end of Long Island 
and the ships, after some delay, sailed for the Narrows. 

Rumors that a hostile squadron was on its way from Eng- 
land had preceded its arrival, and Stuyvesant began, in late 
spring, to fortify New Amsterdam, and make other provisions 
for defense. But at this critical juncture, when every hour 
was precious and his success depended upon untiring energy 
and vigilance, a belated dispatch arrived from Holland stating 
that no danger from England need be feared! King Charles 
was merely desirous of enforcing uniformity of Church and 
State and had dispatched frigates for the purpose of introduc- 
ing Episcopacy into his colonies! This report seemed to be 
confirmed by the English squadron's month-long stay in 
Boston. 

All suspicion of invasion was dispelled and Stuyvesant, 
convinced that all was well, left his capital for Rennslaerwyck 
to direct a campaign against the Esopus Indians. 

On August 19th the English ships were sighted. The Dutch 
Director-General, alerted by a furiously riding courier, hur- 
ried back down the river. The day after his arrival in Man- 
hattan, four stately black frigates flying the red ensign of 
England at their mastheads, sailed up the Lower Bay, an- 
chored just below the Narrows, blockaded the North River, 
and sent ashore a company of soldiers who occupied the 
Blockhaus on Staten Island. 

Frenzied activity now seized the Dutch. Every third man 
was ordered to work on the city defenses; guards were placed 
at New Amsterdam's gates, military rationing hastily intro- 
duced, and all brewers were forbidden malt to brew beer. 

For a moment it looked as though the defender might offer 
serious resistance, for Stuyvesant was putting a very brave 
face on the situation. Nicolls also feared that turbulent, popu- 
lous Long Island would rise and give his troops trouble, and 
he sent an appeal for reinforcements. 



ENGLAND ACQUIRES NEW NETHERLAND f 143 

John Scott, but shortly out of prison, had found his way 
home. His reputation seems to have survived most trium- 
phantly Connecticut's ill treatment, for when he heard 
Nicolls' summons he had no difficulty in recruiting some 
Long Islanders and mounting them with his own horses. 

Nicolls now began negotiations for surrender; but Stuy- 
vesant, despite his people's waning ardor, was adamant. He 
had only one hundred and fifty trained soldiers, his capital 
was open along the banks of both rivers, its only defense a 
hastily erected wood fence. Yet he wanted to fight. 

Under a flag of truce Nicolls and Winthrop met with the 
proud old man and the city magistrates, presenting them with 
a letter containing extremely favorable surrender terms. 
These Stuyvesant angrily refused, tearing the letter into bits 
and countering with elaborate and threadbare arguments 
about Dutch claims to New Netherland, and the twelve- 
month truce he had recently signed with Captain John Scott. 
Nicolls lost patience with such legal maneuvering. "I shall 
speak with you at the Manhattans," he declared. "I shall 
come not as a friend, but with ships and soldiers/' 

Within a day, two frigates dropped anchor near Governor's 
Island, while the Commander marched three companies to 
the Brooklyn end of Fulton Ferry. Here he was joined by 
the Connecticut forces, and a small troop of cavalry com- 
manded by none other than the quondam President Scott! 

John was in at the kill, after all. For a second time in his 
life he had come, armed, to New Amsterdam, and this time 
neither Colonel Nicolls nor Governor Winthrop rejected his 
aid. At the head of his men, he watched the other two frigates 
come on past the city under full canvas, their guns loaded, 
ready to fire a broadside. 

The sight was too much for Stuyvesant; brave as he was, 
the odds against him were too great. A white flag fluttered 
from the fort. Nicolls allowed the Dutch forces to march out 
with all honors of war, and embark for home on the Gideon. 



144 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

On August 29th, 1664, the English took possession of the 
citadel with a corporal's guard. 

Cartwright and Carr spent some weeks attacking Dutch 
forces upstate with some rather disgracefully brutal incidents, 
from which Nicolls had to extricate them. But within a very 
short time Holland's rule in America came to a peaceful end. 

Thus was John Scott's Narrative fulfilled in a manner 
whicli even that swashbuckling rover could hardly have 
deemed possible. 



CHAPTER XIX 



JOHN STANDS BY THE PEOPLE 



". . . there is some ground to fear that the pliancy of a 
commonwealth is yet in some of their brains." 

Commissioner Cartwright to Secretary Bennet, 
Feb. 7th, 1664/5, N.Y. Col. Docs., Ill, 89. 



THE CONQUEST OF NEW NETHERLAND, which almost doubled 
New England's territory, was a barren victory for the local 
participants, and John Scott, after all the hints and promises 
of service to be rewarded, received no recognition for his 
share in it. Instead the King sent him a directive to proceed 
at once to Barbados with horses and ammunition and to 
establish a garrison there. 1 The far-seeing Charles, realizing 
that his assault on a Dutch colony would inevitably provoke 
retaliation at sea where the Dutch were strongest, feared an 
attack on the weakly held English islands in the West Indies. 
The dashing Captain Scott had not only proved himself of 
exceptional competence on Long Island but was already 
familiar with the Caribbean. The royal command was there- 
fore logical if costly, however crushing to John, with his 
mind running on rehabilitation and reward at home. 

Gloomily he set about purchasing guns and horses; but he 
was not the only one to be disappointed. 

Governor Winthrop, in defiance of all reason, had followed 
up his illegal imprisonment of John by announcing his own 
possession of Long Island; and, in June 1664, had marched 
troops into Hempstead to establish Connecticut's rule there. 

145 



146 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

He deposed all the magistrates John had appointed, and 
reappointed them again in his own name. But his triumph 
was short-lived. 

Richard Nicolls, now Governor of the newly conquered 
territory, officially informed Winthrop that Connecticut's 
southern border ended at the sea. Long Island was definitely 
and irrevocably in the Duke of York's charter. 

The blow had fallen at last. Winthrop's dearest ambitions 
were thwarted. Still, gallant gentleman as he was, he hid his 
disappointment and with a show of friendship sent the new 
governor sixty bushels of wheat and offered to "help mark 
his boundaries." The gullible commissioners accepted his aid. 
They had no topographical knowledge of America and their 
task was not easy, for, pursuing the policy of overlapping 
frontiers, the King had named New York's eastern line the 
Connecticut River, irrespective of the fact that Winthrop's 
charter extended to the Pacific! 

It was inviting trouble. Most historians have now forgotten 
the "pious fraud" (as one called it) whereby the dividing line 
was made to pass south through Poughkeepsie, thereby add- 
ing a good twenty miles to Connecticut Colony! But the fraud 
was discovered, rectification was possible, and from Hartford 
came a letter admitting the error and expressing "humblest 
and most unctious apologies." 2 

But the incident pointed up the difficulties of the situation. 

Governor Nicolls and the commissioners realized they were 
in a tough spot, operating as foreigners in unknown territory. 
For assistance they turned to John Scott, asking him to post- 
pone his departure to Barbados until things were running 
more smoothly. 3 

Nicolls' confidence in John was based on what he had 
heard about him in London, and, more particularly on the 
fact that John's appointment as Long Island's chief magis- 
trate had been made at the recommendation of the Lord 
Chancellor himself. 4 News of the arrest and imprisonment 
had not reached England when the expedition started, so 



JOHN STANDS BY THE PEOPLE f 147 

John, as far as the four commissioners were concerned, was 
still Clarendon's proteg. He had met and talked with them 
aboard the Thomas and James, in August 1664, had heard 
their plans for the taking of all New Netherland, and had 
been shown letters from Clarendon and the Privy Council, 
on the basis of which he had delayed his departure for 
Barbados, in order to be of service to them. 5 

Winthrop hastened to inform Nicolls of John's "changed 
status" and disenfranchisement. Nevertheless one of the new 
governor's first acts was to grant John and his servant a pass- 
port, guaranteeing safe return from New York, since he was 
still, technically, a fugitive from Connecticut justice. 6 Later, 
Nicolls learned that John's case was to be "further con- 
sidered" and had written to Winthrop, expressing a hope that 
"your Court would have given some example of leneity (sic) 
to Captain Scott which was once the intention of the gentle- 
men attending you." 7 He added that he had "expected long 
since" a copy of the Hartford trial proceedings to prepare 
himself should John decide to appeal his case in the New 
York Courts. 8 

It was particularly on Long Island that Nicolls needed 
John's cooperation for he knew that the latter's truce with 
Stuyvesant had lightened his own initial task there, and he 
was well aware of John's great local reputation.* New regula- 
tions re-establishing ownership rights had had to be imme- 
diately devised for the changed conditions of this so greatly 
disrupted colony. And the Long Islanders were already show- 
ing hostility at the first reading of the Duke's Laws which 
Nicolls was introducing. 

This new code provided for the renewal of all land grants, 
an edict which outraged the English communities, accus- 
tomed for thirty years to run their own affairs without Eng- 



* "A man of great influence," says James Riker, Jr., writing of John in 
1852 (before G. D. Scull had made known, in America, the Pepysian affi- 
davits) "in the ballotting for president, Scott received a unanimous vote." 
Annals of New town, pp. 60, 61. 



148 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

land's interference; while the former Dutch settlers were 
horrified at the reversal of what they had been led to expect 
from English law. Nicolls' decrees permitted no free election 
of civil and military officers; these were to be appointed by 
the King. And, as crowning insult, taxes were to be imposed 
without consultation with the people's representatives. In 
fact the new measures meant less freedom under the Duke 
than under the Dutch. 

Nicolls further convoked a general meeting in Hempstead, 
February 1664/5 and ordered all seventeen island towns to 
send deputies bringing deeds of their personal holdings and 
of their townships as well, and invited the Indian Sachems 
too. John Scott, his local reputation in no wise impaired by 
what most of his neighbours evidently regarded as a personal 
"feud" with Winthrop, appeared as the town's attorney to 
deal not only with Hempstead's boundary quarrel with Flush- 
ing but with every matter concerning this important center. 9 

In pursuance of royal instructions to "curb New England 
pretensions," Governor Nicolls was treating his province like 
a conquered country. He presented the Convention delegates 
with a formal address of submission which he requested them 
to sign it was "wholly voluntary" he assured them, but re- 
minded them that those who did not "must not expect the 
fruit and benefit thereof common with others." 10 The dele- 
gates were incensed by the servile tone of the document, and 
hostile to the idea of "submitting." As the Hempstead Con- 
vention dragged into its second week their sullen resentment 
mounted. Accusations of "unconstitutional government" 
were heard. The harassed governor, seeking to detect a ring- 
leader, issued an edict forbidding all further criticism. But 
opposition to the Duke's Laws continued, led by Southamp- 
ton,* which was particularly averse to paying new taxes. 



* Southampton also refused to comply with the patent renewals; and in 
1671 the New York Court of Assizes declared many Long Island titles invalid. 
Together with some eastern towns Southampton drew up a Remonstrance, 
which the New York Governor declared illegal and publicly burned. A year 
later Southampton petitioned Whitehall for permission to secede from New 



JOHN STANDS BY THE PEOPLE f 149 

Nicolls was counting upon Scott as prominent South- 
ampton land-ownerto mollify that town's delegates, and to 
use his influence with the disillusioned Dutch. He treated 
John with every mark of confidence and friendship, promis- 
ing him unlimited choice of office (as John's angry letter to 
King Charles makes clear). 

For the second time in his career, John was fiercely 
tempted. He had but to comply with Nicolls' desires and 
both rehabilitation and honor were his. His fortune would 
have been made. Thereafter he could snap his fingers at 
Winthrop and, at an appropriate later moment, might well 
secure the return of his Long Island property. As geographer, 
navigator, friend of the Indians and the Islanders' trusted 
president, there was almost no service he could not have 
rendered the governor and his inexperienced commissioners. 
But to do so would have meant offending his principles and 
turning his back on his fellow citizens. 

Remembering all that he, in the King's name, had prom- 
ised these people, and watching their determined resistance 
to the new legislation, John must have begun to realize the 
magnitude and implications of the choice before him. 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

1. S.P. Dom. Car., II, 29, No. 419. 

2. Egerton MS., 2395, f 432v. 

3. S.P. Dom. Car., II, 29, No. 419. 

4. Ibid. 

5. Ibid. 

6. Early Col. Docs. L.I., p. 557. 

7. Nicolls to Winthrop, original letter in Gardiner Memorial room 
of Easthampton Library, L.I. 

8. Early Col. Docs. L.L, p. 564. 

9. Ibid., Rec. N. and S. Hemp., I, 156. 
10. Nicolls to Winthrop, op. cit. 

York and join Connecticut. Refused! Many inhabitants, rather than endure 
conditions they considered intolerable, abandoned their homes and left for 
Hollandl It was at the height of these disturbances in 1673 that the Dutch 
quietly sailed up the Bay and re- took Manhattan. 



CHAPTER XX 



JOHN'S SACRIFICE FOR FREEDOM 



"Democracy hath taken so deepe a Roote in these parts 
that ye very name of a Justice of the Peace is an Abomina- 
tion/' 

Complaint of Governor Richard Nicolls. 
N.Y. Hist. Soc. Coll. (1869), p. 119. 



BY ACCEPTING THE DUKE'S LAWS and embracing the schemes 
to subjugate the Long Islanders, John Scott could have made 
himself solid with Governor Nicolls and the three commis- 
sioners. 

But John would have no part in helping Nicolls subdue 
the governments of New England. He stubbornly maintained 
that "the people's liberties were being suppressed/' 1 and not 
only on Long Island. He informed the King, the commis- 
sioners ' 'opposed on all points" everything the royal charter 
of 1629 had granted the colonists of Massachusetts 2 as well. 

That he should identify himself with the resistance move- 
ment there was only logical. He had been intimately con- 
nected with this colony since 1662, serving it once as 
agent, and would naturally have been among the first to share 
its resentment at any "overhauling" carried out by English 
officials. 

In the long Narrative (Report) which members of the 
Boston General Court sent the King 3 (together with five 
hundred pounds worth of local commodities to sweeten their 

150 



JOHN'S SACRIFICE FOR FREEDOM f 151 

arguments) they expressed their due respect for Charles II, 
but none at all for his commissioners. 

While freely acknowledging that they themselves had 
erred in omitting the oath of allegiance, the members vigor- 
ously defended their other actions, and reminded the King of 
his own promises in the charter, granted them by his royal 
father and grandfather of blessed memory. 

Indignantly protesting against Nicolls' recommendations 
of a local court of appeals (without jury!) they pleaded their 
ancient rights, not only freely to elect and be elected to all 
civil office, but more important, to be tried by their peers 
or by the law of the land. Here they were speaking not only 
as dutiful subjects but as citizens with a deep concern for 
the Law, as apart from the laws a distinction sharp in Eng- 
lish minds at this period. 

The laws were made by men and could be found in any 
statute book. For New Englanders, Law had become deeper, 
self-evident, something derived from God, and enduring were 
every man-made statute wiped from the book. Such matters 
they held to be their inalienable right, vouched for in Magna 
Carta. 

One wonders if John did not have a hand in drafting the 
ten pages of this Narrative. He was often employed for assign- 
ments like this. Its arguments and, in one instance, its phrase- 
ology, find a curious echo in the letter he himself sent the 
King. In this, his longest appeal to Charles, written in formal 
French, but with the note of easy familiarity which charac- 
terizes all John's correspondence with the world's great, he 
takes it for granted that in a matter of such magnitude 
the King would support the people, as against the lords 
and barons those responsible, so he seems to have felt, for 
the commissioners' actions. There was an emotional back- 
ground for this assumption: the Duke of York's ingratitude 
still rankled, and John was loath to see the Duke's power 
extend to Long Island. Nevertheless, his letter to Charles II 
proved to be a blunder most costly to his personal fortunes. 



152 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

For if, as appears to have beeen the case,* the reduction of 
New England's independence was a fixed Stuart policy, then 
those who had to implement it would look coldly upon all 
those who opposed it. To Governor Nicolls, chief instrument 
in re-asserting royal prerogative, John's removal from the 
scene became essential to carrying out his instructions. John's 
loyalty to the American colonists was to cost him dear, not 
only in goods and land but in his good name as well. 

Judging from several letters and his general conduct, John* 
cared passionately for independence and for what we call 
today self-government. Together with Governor Winthrop 
and leading New England citizens, he had already debated 
this subject, two years previously, when the King's communi- 
cation of June 28th, 1662, had first warned the Boston Gourt 
of royal dissatisfaction. 4 Gravest misgivings had been raised 
at that time, as to the future possibility of loss, or curtailment, 
of cherished freedoms. 

It is no more surprising, therefore, that John supported 
Massachusetts in its clamor for liberty of Church and Com- 
monwealth than to find him on the people's side in Long 
Island. There, too, he was against Nicolls, and seconded the 
General Court's opposition to Crown appointments of gov- 
ernor and officers; and this same unorthodox attitude had 
been apparent in his earlier championship of the Long Island 
English towns, where fear of religious coercion had, in part, 
prompted his aid. His stand put him among those first few 
who established the American tradition of protest, non- 
conformity and the right of the individual conscience over 
all corporate rights, even including those of the state. 

It is idle to suppose he kept his views to himself. Endorse- 
ment by him was certain to be highly vocal, whether siding 
with the Court's demands or with the expostulating Long 
Islanders who refused to submit to Nicolls and who were 



* Whitehall's secret instructions to the commissioners. N.Y. Col. Docs., 
Ill, 57. 



JOHN'S SACRIFICE FOR FREEDOM f 153 

wearing the English governor out with their arguments and 
opposition. 5 

Few records have been preserved of that Hempstead Con- 
vention which John attended as town attorney. But a sig- 
nificant exception is a letter from the Southold freemen to 
Nicolls telling him what they had just voted in their plenary 
session, and stating, in forthright terms, what most Long 
Island citizens evidently felt about the new legislation.* 

At this convention, John, together with the men of South- 
old, Southampton, Easthampton, etc., stubbornly argued, 
more than a century before the idea became a liberation 
slogan, that there should be no taxation without representa- 
tion. 

The reaction to his laws both baffled and angered Nicolls. 
Many settlers in these rebellious towns had originally come 
from Yorkshire and had retained, along with their sturdy 
political realism, a blunt broad dialect the Governor found 
almost unintelligible. It was possibly to win them over that 
he rechristened Long Island Yorkshire. But this flattery of 
native pride did not change their attitude nor persuade them 
to sign any written submission. They considered it offensively 
obsequious, and, to his great astonishment (as he afterwards 
wrote to Winthrop), he could not bribe them into submitting. 

Nicolls had encountered a new type of man the free citizen 
and did not know what to make of him. 

The governor was a polished courtier of more than average 
experience, travelled, a scholar delighting in Greek and Latin. 
Puritans he had met at home, and he had been quite pre- 
pared to cope with these rugged idealists of the English 
Reformation who had chosen to transport themselves "be- 
yond the sea." But he expected to find them just like other 
Englishmen in an overseas England. 

* Among the various matters Southold's delegates were fully empowered 
to conclude was clause 7, which reads: "That there be not any rate, levy or 
charge, or money raised but what shall be with the consent of the major part 
of the deputies in a general court or meeting." Southold T.R. f I, 358. 
(Italics added.) 



154 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

Years of pioneer existence, however, and three thousand 
miles of salt water had transformed these petty tradesmen, 
clerks, laborers, or whatever they had been formerly, into a 
different breedunpredictable, as far as the governor was 
concerned, and almost foreign. He was, in fact, meeting 
for the first time a native product the American (or, as 
the Indians said, trying to pronounce the word English, 
"Yenghee!"). This was what John, for all his royalist ties and 
Court experience, had become. And he was treasonably en-* 
couraging other Americans, so Nicolls believed, to resist the 
new policies and assert native rights. 

The governor first resorted to blandishment, trying to win 
his chief opponent to his side. 

"The commissioners showed me various letters they 
brought from Lord Clarendon and from your Majesty's Privy 
Council/' wrote John angrily to the King, pouring out his 
grievances to one whose ear he felt he could always reach. 
"And Colonel Nicolls offered me a signed, carte blanche." 
(John could have written his own ticket!) "In truth they 
made me very fine propositions in the name of His Royal 
Highness the Duke of York. But it was for suppressing the 
New England peoples' liberties which Your Majesty's grand- 
father and father of blessed memory, accorded them with the 
advice and blessings of Parliament, and which Your Majesty 
yourself, had confirmed by letters under your sign manual, 
and by your gracious message which I myself brought over 
only six months ago saying that Your Majesty would never 
curtail their liberties, but to which the commissioners were 
opposed on all points. I wished to have no part in this and 
said I would not serve them in this affair. Having no positive 
orders from Your Majesty I told them that they must excuse 
me if I refused to engage myself with them and said I would 
follow your direct orders to go to the Barbadoes and ready 
its defences as I had every reason to do, considering that the 
designs they had would inevitably bring about open hostili- 
ties. At this reply (which I trust Your Majesty and his counsel 



JOHN'S SACRIFICE FOR FREEDOM f 155 

would consider reasonable) Colonel Nicolls and the other 
Commissioners were so furious that they impugned my 
loyalty and threatened to disgrace me with the Lord High 
Chancellor. . . ," 6 (Italics added.) 

The threat showed clearly the degree of Governor Nicolls' 
fury over the Long Island deadlock. Resistance to his edicts, 
which he rightly attributed to John's influence, reflected 
upon himself. This amiable despot, though no more sympa- 
thetic to popular government than Stuyvesant, nevertheless, 
by his tact and good sense was, in many quarters, overcoming 
the obstacles inherent in his difficult task. Of all the com- 
missioners, he alone had any success or got any good results. 
Failure on the Island marred his record. 

But against him stood the majority of the inhabitants led 
by John. 

Scotts had always served their sovereigns loyally, they were 
good public servants, but did not bow the neck supinely to 
authority. John Scott began and ended as a free agent. This 
he had proved when, as President of the Five Towns, he had 
dared make a choice, first American patriot to raise the 
standard which was later to rally a nation. So, faced with a 
second fateful decision, he felt obliged to defy the commis- 
sioners, let them say or do what they would. 

"For my loyalty and integrity," he wrote to the King, "I 
told them that I was assured (whatever overbold souls might 
impute) that Your Majesty would never doubt me. As for the 
Chancellor's favor, it is something I would highly esteem, he 
being your Majesty's first minister; and I cannot believe that 
a man of such justice and judgment could in honor and 
conscience listen to such trifles (badineries) about a gentle- 
man and a Christian. My honor could never be corrupted 
even through fear of all the world's evils; it being the only 
thing to which I lay claim. My soul belongs to God, and my 
life to your Majesty, but my honor is my own which nothing 
can subvert, God be praised! 

"I beg Your Majesty to pardon me if I have done anything 



156 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

to merit your disgrace, and to protect me with your royal 
vindication from those who would try to arouse your anger 
against me by the accusation of Colonel Nicolls and the other 
commissioners, who, (as they themselves told me), have pre- 
ferred charges against me; false charges which contain in- 
formation contrary to that which I am sending your Majesty/' 7 

John had good reason for imploring royal protection: 
Nicolls had developed still another grudge against him. He 
blamed John for involving him in a dispute of historic impli* 
cations resulting in the peculiar circumstance that New York 
has never since controlled both shores of its own magnificent 
harbor. 

Among the first grants by the new governor was a vast 
regionknown today as New Jersey which Nicolls deeded to 
John Ogden to settle. But to the governor's intense annoy- 
ance, he learned that the Duke of York had already conveyed 
this territory to Sir George Carteret and Lord Berkeley of 
Stratton, who immediately assumed jurisdictional rights over 
it as well, and sent out a new young governor to take posses- 
sion of what Nicolls fondly imagined to be still under his 
authority. 

He was incensed at the treatment of his own patentee* and 
turned furiously upon John Scott, accusing him of ruining 
the Duke's New York holdings by this partition trick. In 
scathing terms he reported John's "infamy": 

"and I charge it upon Captain Scott, who was born to 
work mischief as far as he is creditted or his parts serve 
him," wrote Nicolls wrathfully to the Duke of York. "This 
Scott, it seems, aimed at the same patent which Your Royal 
Highness hath, and hath since given words out that he had 
an injury done him by your Royal Highness, whereupon he 
contrived and betrayed my lord Berkely and Sir George 
Carteret into a design (contrary to their knowledge) of 
ruining your Royal Highness' territory." 8 



* Nicolls' grant was declared null and void in 1688 and a century of litiga- 
tion followed. Harleian MSS. 7001, f 299. 



JOHN'S SACRIFICE FOR FREEDOM f 157 

It is exactly what John might have done, and none knew 
better than he New Netherland's topography and rich possi- 
bilities. Disappointment could have prompted this ingenious 
revenge, but the facts do not bear out Nicolls' accusation. 

That John felt injured by the Duke is true, but that came 
after the English had taken New Netherland when he, all 
unrewarded, was on Long Island and could not possibly have 
advised Berkeley and Carteret whose New Jersey patent was 
granted them in England on June 23rd, 1664, before the Duke 
had even secured the land, when Nicolls was still on the high 
seas and John himself was in jail. 9 And before that, at the 
time John was in London early in 1663, discussing the in- 
vasion or hearing it discussed around the Foreign Plantations 
Committee, though he most certainly could have suggested 
that the lush patroon country west of the Hudson would be 
a fitting reward for the two titled Cavaliers, he had no reason 
then to spite the Duke by recommending drastic partition. 
Indeed, at that moment he was an ardent ducal supporter, 
even boasting he was the Duke's agent, and having great 
expectations of some settlement for himself. 

Actually, had the new proprietors not made their property 
a separate colony, this grant would have been no more detri- 
mental to New York than Nicolls' grant of the same land to 
John Ogden. It was the two noblemen's highhanded assump- 
tion of governmental status that resulted in Manhattan's loss. 
As a matter of fact, for this conduct, both Berkeley and 
Carteret soon fell from royal favor.* But who remembers 
that? Nicolls' charges have thundered down the centuries, 
though impartial examination shows they were unfounded. 

Nicolls, however, could not be impartial. He was indignant 
and bitter over the incident and over the unpopularity of the 



* "Lord Berkeley is under a cloud, and out of all his offices and offers to 
surrender up the patent of New Jersey; Sir George Carteret . . . his partner 
is in Ireland but it is thought he will likewise surrender and New York will 
be enlarged." (Samuel Maverick to John Winthrop, 1668). Mass. Hist. Soc. 
Coll., 4th ser., VII, 315. But despite Maverick's supposition, both noblemen 
retained their patent. 



158 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

Duke's laws, which, despite their name, he himself had 
drafted. He wrote complainingly to Winthrop of the "greate 
Tryalls and exercises of Patience" he had had to endure from 
these "disobliging persons/' 10 He did his best to appease them 
with minor concessions. All to no avail. The few delegates 
who did sign his submissive address and accepted his laws 
became, themselves, a target of reproach and were forced to 
issue a "Remonstrance" repudiating their fellow citizens' ac- 
cusation of being "betrayers of our liberties and privileges." 11 ' 

At this juncture Nicolls lost all patience and resorted to the 
arbitrary use of power enforcing the royal will. He threatened 
with prison sentences, or worse, all those who railed against 
the conforming delegates. Yet this made no difference to the 
heroically stubborn majority. They continued to oppose the 
Duke's Lawsparticularly as they affected land. Not all the 
lawyers' big words could make them believe that the wilder- 
ness lots they had tamed and subdued were not their own 
property, nor that grants to acres cleared by the sweat of 
thirty years' toil should be paid for a second timeor pass to 
other hands. Patent renewal they felt was iniquitous. 

Deed of purchase and court registration had always consti- 
tuted proof of ownership; very few Long Island landowners 
held the English title to their lands. John Winthrop himself, 
for all his extensive estates, could not produce an English 
title to everything he owned. Not until 1680, four years after 
his death, did his son obtain from Governor Andros English 
deeds to the Setauket land Governor Winthrop had seques- 
tered from John Scott to ensure the payment of fines which 
his own courts had levied. 

Scot's Hall was sold, although it stood in New York, out- 
side Winthrop's jurisdiction but he had obtained Nicolls' 
promise to respect Connecticut's decrees. All John's extensive 
fencing was carted away and his goods stored in neighbor 
John Ketcham's house and carefully itemized "that he be in 
nowayse inbesseled." 12 The records show that his old mother 
and her servant Thomas Feis were allowed "three cows for 



JOHN'S SACRIFICE FOR FREEDOM f 159 

their present condition/' 13 but there is little mention of 
Deborah other than that she was left in a "mean and pore" 
way, 14 as well she might with all her husband's possessions 
seized. 

And still Nicolls had not finished with John Scott. He 
ordered him to bring to New York assizes, an alleged "perpe- 
tuity," 15 i.e. the nine hundred and ninety-nine year lease 
(standard legal tenure in English conveyances) for the Se- 
tauket twenty square miles. This perpetuity, he declared, 
John had used to further his purchases, or to threaten those 
reluctant to sell. Nicolls had never seen the document, indeed 
its very existence is only a matter of hearsay. It does not figure 
in any of the numerous deeds John ever drew up, neither 
for the Setauket property nor anywhere else. But Winthrop 
had written Nicolls that John's claims to all this land (i.e. 
Scott's grant from the Indians) "would be destructive to the 
whole plantation," 16 although when Winthrop bought John's 
Setauket land it appeared that private ownership was not so 
destructive. 

Nicolls, in response to Winthrop's complaint, ordered the 
"perpetuity" into court. When John, following the example 
of other Southampton landlords, failed to comply, Nicolls 
issued a warrant for his arrest. And when John persistently 
disobeyed, the Governor turned Winthrop's sequestration 
orders into outright confiscation and seized all John's other 
lands, goods and chattels. 17 

In high dudgeon, Nicolls sent a letter to Secretary Morrice, 
in London: 18 "Scott, by a pretended seal affixed to a writing 
. . . hath horribly abused His Majesty's honor in these parts 
and fled out of the country to Barbados."* 



* Only a month previously, Nicolls, intent on ruining John as he said 
he would, wrote Morrice that "Mr. Maverick's petition had been stolen from 
Lord Arlington's office by Captain Scott and delivered to the Governor and 
council in Boston-though Scott said Williamson had given it to him." N.Y. 
Col. Docs., Ill, 136. 

It will be remembered that Boston had a special fund for agents to ob- 
tain information from the English Ministers, and had once employed John. 



160 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

No wonder that John had written the King that only royal 
protection could save him! The governors of both Connecti- 
cut and New York had undertaken against him proceedings 
not only arbitrary but from which both stood to gain 
Winthrop in land, Nicolls in much needed prestige. That 
their intended victim was one of the first pawns in what was 
to become the struggle of the American colonies for freedom 
and independence has passed unnoticed in American history. 

For John the issue was clear: power and return of his 
property for siding against the people; loss of material posses- 
sions, of a brilliant future and a growing reputation, if he 
stubbornly upheld the people's rights! But he had made his 
choice and there is no evidence that he ever repented of it. 

With a warrant out for his arrest, he could take no further 
chances. Memories of the Connecticut jail presumably under- 
mined his confidence in New England courts. The two ships 
were in readiness, horses and ammunition stored. With a 
King's order and a job ahead he set sail. . . . 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

1. S.P. Dom. Car., II, 29, No. 419. 

2. Ibid. 

3. Mass. Rec., IV, prt. 2, 219-29. 

4. Ibid., 166; CSP. Col. Ser. Am. and WL, 1661-68, 125. 

5. Nicolls to Winthrop, MS. letter in the Gardiner Memorial room 
at Easthampton Library. 

6. S.P. Dom. Car., II, 29, No. 419. 

7. Ibid. 

8. N.Y. Col. Does., Ill, 105. 

9. Brodhead, Hist, of N.Y., II, 82. 
10. Nicolls to Winthrop, op. cit. 



At this period there were always two Secretaries of State, and not infre- 
quently personal rivalry led one to undo the work of the other. (CSP 
Dom. Car., II, 1665-66. Preface by Mrs. Everett Green.) Williamson (who was 
secretary to Henry Bennet Lord Arlington), and John's friend may quite well 
have "leaked" the letter to him. It is significant that Nicolls, instead of writ- 
ing Arlington, whom the matter concerned, made his complaint to the rival, 
Morrice. 



JOHN'S SACRIFICE FOR FREEDOM f 161 



11. Br-haven T.R. (1924 ed.), II, 76, 152. 

12. Ibid., 98. 

13. Ibid., 76, 152. 

14. Ibid., 153. 

15. N.Y. Col. Docs., XIV, 590. 

16. Ibid., Ill, 86. 

17. Ibid., XIV, 590. 

18. Ibid., Ill, 136. 



PART TWO 



CHAPTER XXI 



GET-AWAY 



"Man is not born for himself or to confine his times within 
the narrow compass of his own poor pleasures or advan- 
tages, but being a creature of celestial extract ought ever 
to be looking upwards from whence he came." 

John Scott, Preface, Histories. SI, MS., 3662. 



DID JOHN SCOTT KNOW, as he left Long Island, late in 1665, 
that his life as pioneer was over and that all the hard-won 
acquisitions of ten strenuous years would soon be lost and 
forgotten? That he would never set foot in North America 
again? 

Did the old Scott prophecy of family downfall ever occur 
to his mind as he mulled over his shattered career or raged 
over his lost possessions? For the second time his life was 
violently wrenched from its course. Or was this voyage the 
beginning of a new chapter of achievement with golden 
opportunity beckoning from a fresh quarter of the globe? 
Surely he could not have thought he was departing forever, 
leaving all that he loved and cherished behind. He must have 
believed that fate would relent and that one day he would 
come back, for it is on record that he rented to a friend some 
of his recently acquired Hempstead property until March, 
1669. 1 

Deborah had long been schooled to his sudden departures 
and prolonged absences; they were all part of his exciting 

165 



166 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

personality. John was too restless and ambitious ever to have 
been a good family man, and back of his mind must always 
have been the thought that her father would look after her, 
as he had done when John was in jail. At first Deborah would 
have been relieved to know that the immediate job took him 
out of the commissioners' vindictive clutches. She may also 
have consoled herself with thoughts of his success abroad, of 
his approaching triumphant return, when, like some fabled 
troubadour, he would entertain her with world gossip artd 
fascinating details of his richly varied experiences. But the 
months slipped into years. His sons became young men, and 
the little girl, whom he had hardly seen, grew to a demure 
little maiden in hanging sleeves, and still there was no word 
of return. 

Things might have gone hard with Deborah, but for 
Nicolls' long overdue repentance of his harsh treatment of 
her husband. He gave orders that part of John's sequestered 
property be sold for her benefit,* and a little committee, 
under her brother Joseph Raynor, was set up to look after her 
interests. 2 To compensate her for the loss of Scot's Hall, the 
governor ordered Daniel Gotherson's two houses to be taken 
down and re-erected on a lot for her. That he thereby de- 
prived an English widow of her property meant little to 
Richard Nicolls. He had no time for Dorothea Gotherson, 
nor her petition concerning her Long Island holdings. 

"He did me all the mischief he could," wrote that distressed 
lady to Colonel Lovelace. And being a spirited creature of 
more than usual enterprise, she insisted, when Nicolls re- 
turned to London in 1668, on having a hearing before the 



* "Confirmation of the estate of John Scott, granted for sale unto George 
Hewlett and William Osborne, for benefit of his wife Deborah, lands, houses, 
privileges which John Scott bought of Hope Washbourn; also lands, houses, 
fences in Hempstead; also lands formerly belonging to John Scott in Matinie- 
cock and Madnans [Madans] Neck. December 1667. Signed Richard Nicolls." 
From Original records in Office of Secretary of State, Albany, N.Y. Patents I 
(1664-67), ff 97, 99. 



GET-AWAY f 167 

Duke of York. And Nicolls "acknowledged before the Duke 
to me" that her case had been shelved for lack of information, 
but that "now it is known" she might get back some of her 
land (confiscated together with John's) after all! 3 

On the advice of Secretary Arlington she also made a sworn 
statement denying the damaging gossip Nicolls had started 
about her personal relations with Scott. In none of her 
numerous letters and affidavits 4 is there any accusation of 
John, or the slightest suggestion of fraudulent dealing on his 
part. They remained on good terms to the end, as these letters 
show. 

"I have been informed but not by himself (i.e., John) that 
he had much wrong done him by the New England people, 
so I know not where to send or write to him . . . concluding 
him not in a capacity of doing me right or himself either as 
to the particular concern of possessing the land . . ." she 
assured Colonel Lovelace. And again: "I am satisfied I might 
have enjoyed the Indian and English interest if I had gone 
thither,* but having many children and not very healthy 
... I never went." 5 

In all fairness to New York's governor, it must be remem- 
bered that, along with the Gotherson claim, there were hun- 
dreds of other complicated land suits simply beyond his 
competence to settle, or so we must suppose, judging from 
the number of his decisions subsequently voided in law.f 

But for the gentle Deborah he was always available and 
found time to make much of her. It was surely with his per- 
mission that she sold some of her husband's horses. In the 
Town Clerk's office in Southampton the original Earmark 
Book records, on tattered yellowing pages fragile as dried 



* Some years after writing this she did leave for the New World. In the 
Egerton Parish Register, in Godmersham, Kent, there is a note that Dorothea 
Gotherson married a Mr. Hogben about 1680 and emigrated to Long Island. 

f Nicolls himself begged Clarendon to recall him and to send "some other 
fitt person" to take his place. N.Y. Hist. Soc. Coll. 1869, II, 126. 



168 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

moth's wings, that on May 21, 1667, she sold to Richard 
Burrett a six-year-old bay for six pounds, a four-year-old black 
horse, a three-year-old mare and a yearling. These must have 
been draught horses, where looks did not matter, for John's 
mark, registered there, was "a right ear completely sev- 
ered."* 

With her brother and father to look after her, Deborah did 
not lack for friends and funds. And after a few more yeafs 
had passed, there is a recurring entrance of one Charles 
Sturmey's name in connection with hers. He was a tanner, 
one of Southampton's richest inhabitants, 6 and it is consoling 
to think of his taking an interest in the fatherless boys, giving 
one a pony, the other a piece of land. "To my best beloved 
stepson/'f reads a later entry. 7 So Sturmey finally married 
Deborah. Desertion was grounds for divorce in New England 
(although not in New York), but after much delay, Governor 
Lovelace granted her her freedom. Gossip had it John di- 
vorced her, writing one of his rare letters from abroad. But 
it is far more likely that she took the decisive step. She had 
always known what she wanted, and losing her first husband 
she solaced herself with the next best choice. 

Not that John left his family entirely without resources. 
When grown, both boys inherited much of his land. 8 Nicolls 
must have still further relented or his orders were subse- 
quently voided. One may be interested to learn that the elder 
son, John, went into the army, then sailed the seas, like his 
father. His will, proved in 1692, in London, left all his prop- 



* Other horses of his, registered among the town records, bore a small 
slit in the right car. 

f The entry actually reads: "to my son-in-law"; but as Sturmey had no 
daughter, and John Jr. never married, it can only be supposed this means 
son by law, or stepson. Sturmey is known to have married Deborah for she 
is listed as his widow in his will, probated December 31, 1691. S-ampton Red 
Book of Deeds, if 225-26. 



GET-AWAY f 169 

erty to his brother Jeckamiah, who from his earliest days 
apparently was always a man of means.* 

It was Jeckamiah whose colorful career most resembled his 
father's. Flamboyant, gifted, turbulent, constantly buying 
and selling land, his name is splashed all over Southampton's 
town records. His ornamental blue slate gravestone (and the 
plain one of wife Mary) are still standing today in the town's 
Old North Cemetery. He lived to the ripe age of eighty-six, 
rich and full of honor, the father of three sons, ana Justice 
of the Peace. 9 

Legend has it (and this was told me a few years ago in 
Southampton, by the late Clarence Scott, one of Jeckamiah's 
direct descendants) that when Jeckamiah was named to the 
Bench and went to receive his commission from the Governor 
in New York he rode there on the back of a bull and 
came home brandishing his warrant aloft, shouting as he 
galumphed down Main Street: "Now I will make the town 
to fear me, and North Sea to tremble!" 

But our John hardly knew his sons as men, and their 
careers and fortunes he could not have guessed in 1665, as his 
little ship slowly ploughed its way southward towards 
Barbados. 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

1. Rec. of N. and S. Hemp., I, 158-59. 

2. Br-haven. T.R. (1924 ed.), II, 154. 

3. Rawl. MSS., A 175, 144. 

4. Ibid., f 148-49. 

5. O'Callaghan, ed., Doc. Hist, of N.Y., II, 536. 



* Jeckamiah was evidently not convinced that all the land his father John 
Scott left him had been released from sequestration and confiscation. For in 
his will he specifically leaves to his son Thomas "all my lands, meadows, 
goods or chattels that of right may apertain or which should any wise descend 
upon me either in Easthampton, Southampton, Seatacott, Brookhavcn, Smith- 
town or Hempstead. And so either in Old England or New England." (Italics 
added.) 

Dated 24th March, 1747 in Surrogate's Office Hall of Records, N.Y. City, 
copied and recorded in Record of Wills Liber 16, ff 465-66. 



170 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

6. S-ampton Red Book of Deeds, ff 255-56. 

7. S-ampton T.R. f II, 73. 

8. Somerset House, London: Prerogative Court of Canterbury, Register 
Fane, f 120; April 19, 1692. 

9. S-ampton Yellow Book of Deeds, Liber C, f 170. 



CHAPTER XXII 



EXPLORER OF THE SPANISH MAIN 



The increase of any estate must be upon the foreigner, for 
whatsoever is somewhere gotton is somewhere lost. 

Francis Bacon. 

I am not ignorant that many sober gentlemen are of the 
opinion it had been better never to have planted colonies 
... in regard we have not half people enough at home. 
. . . But notwithstanding this loss by sending abroad, yet 
let none be discouraged from new undertakings or have 
little opinion of the colonies. For the most important ad- 
vantages . . . which the world now enjoys have had rise 
from very small beginnings. 

John Scott, Preface. 



STILL FUMING over the rebuff he had received in New Jersey, 
Colonel Nicolls wrote to the Barbados Governor, Francis 
Lord Willoughby. "Such men should have a brand on them/' 
was his indignant conclusion as he expatiated on John's 
capacity to make trouble. To soothe a fellow-governor, per- 
haps, Willoughby assured him in reply that he would arrest 
the man and send him to London. 

He did no such thing, however. Instead, he greeted John 
in the friendliest manner. Not only did the Hope we II bring 
much needed horses and ammunition, but John's London 
reputation was well established, his contacts with Secretary 
Joseph Williamson known, as well as his relations with the 
Committee on Foreign Plantations, of which important body 
Lord Francis himself was a member. Besides, the Barbados 

171 



172 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

governor, a man of "versatile mind and impetuous charac- 
ter," admired courage and initiative. 

"All the metall'd lads were for me," he once wrote Claren- 
don, informing him of steps he had taken to quell certain 
Barbados disorders. And whatever else John might be, he 
was certainly a man of mettle. Moreover his youthful esca- 
pade at Turnham Green and subsequent sufferings in the 
royal cause struck sparks of sympathy among local inhab- 
itants, many of whom were also former Cavaliers, refugees 
from England. The Civil War had been passionately fought 
out on the little tropical island in a few dramatic incidents 
between Cavaliers and Roundheads, and in 1660 the thir- 
teen baronets and knights there celebrated the Restoration 
amid mad rejoicing. They welcomed John as one of them- 
selves. One eminent planter, John Crowe, put him up at his 
own house; prominent townsfolk came to call on him. 

To one of these, Colonel Lewis Morris, a noted Quaker 
(intending shortly to return to New England), John sold a 
Hempstead property he had acquired just before his own de- 
parture, and among the Hempstead Town records there is a 
little entry of the arrival of said "Lues Mores" to take up the 
Scott land. 1 

Slightly restored in fortune, John now embarked upon one 
of the most important adventures of his life. 

While in Willoughby's service lie explored the West Indies 
to map some of the lesser known parts and begin making 
notes for his History of the Coasts and Islands of America. 

He had (he explained in the Preface to this manuscript) 
always been a great lover of geography and history, and in- 
tended, somehow, sometime, to make these his life work. 
Preparatory studies over the previous eighteen years had con- 
vinced him that these things "may be both of some reputa- 
tion to myself and a general advantage to the English na- 
tion." 2 

Evidently he considered most recent geographers outdated. 



EXPLORER OF THE SPANISH MAIN f 173 

Even the observations of "his countryman Mr. Gages,"* were 
of little use, lacking perspective, or what John called "the 
great circumstance of distance between place and place.*' He 
himself would neither consent to write about places he had 
not visited, nor "cloy the world with long discourses about 
old matters. I choose rather to content myself with what my 
own eyes have seen and much of what my feet have trodden 
and my senses brought, or make exact inquiry." 

It is easy to see that the new spirit sweeping England, par- 
ticularly since the foundation of the Royal Society (1660), had 
affected Scott's thinking. He possessed both a mind freed 
from preconceptions, and a conviction that observation and 
experimentation were the only trustworthy means of secur- 
ing data. To these, in dealing with data, he added the induc- 
tive method, thereby reaching what philosophers of the age 
were beginning to call the "timeless element." 

All his writings show a strong mercantilist viewpoint. Like 
other leaders of this period, John was aware of the interrela- 
tion of economic and political factors, but his almost nation- 
alistically expressed devotion to his native country, his desire 
to increase England's trade and power, were colored by 
knowledge of the way other countries coped with common 
problems. Most unusual for that time was his compassionate 
concern with people. 

"If we could find a way for the employing of our poor, and 
setting able people to work for the public advantage, as is 
practised in the United Provinces . . ." he wrote at one point, 
suggesting that he had done a great deal more than just trade 
with the Dutch on Long Island ". . . for these Netherlands 
having five times more people than the innate growth of this 
country will feed and maintain, live better than the English 
that have three times more provisions than they have mouths 
to eat. . . . 'Tis not the multitude of poor people that makes 



* The English- American, or A New Survey of the West Indies, by the true 
and painful endeavours of Thomas Gage, now Preacher of the Word of 
God at Acris, in the County of Kent, 1648. 



174 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

any nation unhappy, but a nonimprovement of these people 
to a right end. . . ." 

He supplemented his travels with wide reading, "Herera 
Ovida* and Acosta,f among the Spanish, Thunis among 
the French, John Delaet,J among the Dutch, and many 
other authors and curious manuscripts that came to my 
hands/' 3 

During the years 1665-67, he covered, by small ship, thou- 
sands of miles along the Atlantic coasts "from New Fountl- 
land to the Amazon," putting in at one hundred and five 
islands. He also explored part of the mainland, namely 
Guiana and other places between the Tropic of Cancer and 
the Amazon. Some of this was already familiar to him from 
his buccaneer days, but much was new territory and his 
preparations had been scientifically thorough. Having this 
work in mind, he had, during his London trips, looked at 
Patent rolls, examining grants of Atlantic islands for original 
ownership, and customs-books, to evaluate their trade re- 
turns. Moreover he had bought all the best aids to map- 
making he could find and had learned to master them 
"Quadrants, Terestanes, Bowes, Blowes, Astrolabes, Sextiles, 
and the like" as he wrote. Amazing for that early period were 
his efforts to give his maps "true direction and distances" be- 
cause, as he explained, "by oblique and cross falling into the 
parallels, all small charts and globes are distorted by the 
curve of the meridians," so that many places are out of pro- 
portion and not clear. (Italics added.) 

Since it was not until the twentieth century that aerial 
photography made such facts visiblemost nineteenth cen- 
tury maps showed Greenland almost as big as Africa John's 
concern over diminishing lines at the poles show either a pro- 



* Luis Antonio Ovida y Herera, Conde de la Granja, 1636-1717. 
t Jose d'Acosta, Historia naturale e morale delle Indie, Venice, 1596. 
J Joannes Delaet, L'Histoire du Nouveau Monde; description des Indes 
Occidentals, Leyden, 1640. 



EXPLORER OF THE SPANISH MAIN f 175 

found understanding of geography, or a very original mind. 
As experienced navigator he procured the very best com- 
passes, "both azimuth and others calibrated for several 
meridians'* (modern indeedl), "for the truth is without good 
instruments all observations are but deceivable guessings." 

Colonel Morris's introductions to personages in the region 
made his travels easier, and John's own discoveries were sup- 
plemented by documentary information (he tells of examin- 
ing all the Barbados records). Two years later, for each of the 
places visited, he wrote a short historical outline. He plunged 
into vivid lavish particulars of every aspect of travel: what 
the countries looked like and the population figures; the ani- 
mals he saw, wild cattle and beasts of prey; the numbers of 
good eating fish and the abundance of edible roots and fruits; 
he mentions local commodities and products, tropical dis- 
eases and the curious "phisickall" drugs cultivated by the 
natives for their own use. His work is an example of the de- 
tailed reporting which was so rare in those days. 

Compared with the meager ill-informed reports the King's 
commissioners were sending back from New England (on all 
Massachusetts they included just four descriptive lines) John's 
work readily explains Williamson's high opinion of him.* 
He had a lively eye for the strange and unusual. Indeed the 
very unlikelihood of some of Scott's statements to those un- 
familiar with the byways of seventeenth century commercial 
history turned out to be one of the strongest guarantees of 
his veracity, for these peculiar individual facts met constant 
unexpected corroboration in Dutch and Spanish documents 
of the period. 4 

In Guiana, where he duly noted the failure of the first five 
Spanish attempts at colonization, he ran on traces of the great 
Dutch explorer and governor, Captain Groenewegen,f dead 



* Scott's use of contemporary information sources makes this all of addi- 
tional interest to historians, 
fjohn spells this variously Cromwegel, Gromwegel. 



176 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

at eighty-three only a year before John's arrival, but to whose 
son, the succeeding governor, John listened at length, ab- 
sorbing many of Groenewegen's "ingenious observations/' 

For forty-eight years this remarkable old man had lived 
among the Carib Indians "the first man who took firm foot- 
ing on Guiana by the good liking of the natives, whose 
humors the gentleman perfectly understood," wrote John, 
paying tribute to the Dutchman's expert handling of these 
ferocious cannibals who had repeatedly massacred previous 
Spanish settlers. Groenewegen erected a fort on a small island 
twenty leagues up the River Disseekeeb (Essequibo) "which 
looked into the two great branches of that famous river," he 
was the first to open up the South American interior to trade 
and settlement. "All his time the colonies flourished; he was 
a great friend of all new Colonies of Christians; and Bar- 
badoes oweth its first assistance both for food and trade to 
this man's special kindness in 1627, at what time they were in 
a miserable condition," wrote John. 

Several times, in his "history," the author refers to the 
necessity of dealing fairly with the natives and Sir Walter 
Raleigh won his particular admiration on this score with "his 
judicious treatment, leaving so great a name behind that the 
English have been obliged to remember with honor." 

A particularly lucky coincidence furnished John with ex- 
ceptional sources of information on the whole Essequibo 
region. Two of the greatest travellers ever in Guiana Hen- 
drikson, a Swiss, who served the Dutch for twenty-seven years, 
and Captain Mattison, twenty-two years in Spanish service 
--were both, after a short military engagement, prisoners in 
John's hands for days on end. Insatiable of detail, he pumped 
them of all they knew. 

He also sailed the lower Amazon, passing through straits 
not three quarters of a mile wide, convinced that two forts 
could command the whole waterway and noting that it was 
possible to sail in both directions, with a favorable current 
one way and a constant east-northeast wind which blew 



EXPLORER OF THE SPANISH MAIN f 177 

"good gales" in the other; he gives directions "for sailing the 
right channel," and how to enter the river with safety. The 
sun, he noted, rose and set every day at the same hour. Much 
of the fifty-seven pages devoted to this section, however, had 
been related to him by Captain Mattison, including piquant 
details of the armed women who headed some of the Indian 
troops, drawn up in crescent formation at the river's mouth. 

He gave a tantalizing glimpse of Trinidad and the feuds of 
Carib and Arawak Indians there, and mentioned the mysteri- 
ous "wasting away" of the natives in these parts probably 
from syphilis, for it was from this Caribbean paradise that 
the white man allegedly brought back the scourge he so 
poetically christened and bestowed upon Europe. Gold was 
the lure throughout this region, the Spaniards sought it be- 
fore all else, far more than trade, colonies, or propagation 
of the Gospel. 

Chile is the southernmost spot he mentioned, quoting from 
voyages of other explorers Magellan, Sir Francis Drake, and 
Sir Thomas Cavendish. His personal contribution was a 
single pithy comment on the native character: "most stout 
and warlike of all Americans, but most resembling Euro- 
peans, with such civility and gentility." The manuscript 
breaks off here, as though more were intended. 

Unfortunately, these Histories have been practically ig- 
nored in America. 5 English scholars,* on the other hand, have 
appreciated them as valuable narratives by a contemporary, 
both familiar with the localities and conversant with all the 
literature on the subject. 

The Hakluyt Society in London published the Description 
of Trinidad, Tobago, and Guiana, in 1925, and various Brit- 



* Notably Arthur Percival Newton, who refers to Scott as the "most de- 
tailed English historian of the West Indies in the seventeenth century." The 
European Nations in the West Indies, p. 194; also Vincent Todd Harlow, who 
endorses the evaluation of Scott's work made by Edmondson, History of 
Barbados; p. 5; and the Rev. George Edmondson, in his exhaustive analysis 
of Scott's Histories, The Dutch in Western Guiana, EHR, 1901, XVI, 640-75. 



178 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

ish and colonial journals have transcribed and printed ex- 
cerpts from Scott's works. 

Most English historians, who deplore the derision Scott has 
met in some American quarters, were impressed by this Res- 
toration writer's contacts with men intimately acquainted, 
over long periods, with the countries about which he was 
writing. "The just conclusion would seem to be that his writ- 
ings are a real authority on the evidence they describe, filling 
a gap in the record caused by the disappearance of original 
documents with which he was familiar, and the absence of 
written memoirs of pioneers from whom he received oral 
narrative."* 

The extent of John's travels can be gauged not only from 
his Histories (a portion of which exist in the British Museum 
and the Bodleian Library) but from the maps seized among 
his papers (May 18th, 1682), maps which he had either made 
himself or collected and worked over a list of which are now 
in the Record Office in London. 6 

These products of John's talents or industry were not only 
beautiful, but judging by one extant example, remarkably 
accurate. His map of the Scheldt Estuary, drawn (1673) on 
the basis both of personal survey and the combined testimony 
of local shipowners, pilots, bargemen, etc., and complete with 
depth soundings, compares favorably with charts of the Brit- 
ish Admiralty currently used by the American Navy. 

In short, a fellow such as John Scott was a godsend to 
seventeenth century English military commanders in the 
Caribbean, engaged in a four-way struggle (Britain, France, 
Holland, Spain) over largely uncharted seas and archipela- 
goes. For though he may not qualify as a scientific explorer 
in the modern sense, he exceeded most of his predecessors 
and contemporaries in the range and reliability of his ob- 
servations. 



* James Alexander Williamson, The English in Guiana, pp. 67-70. 



EXPLORER OF THE SPANISH MAIN f 179 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

1. Rec. of N. and S. Hemp., I, 270. 

2. SI. MS., 3662, f 785. 

3. Ibid., f 772. 

4. Edmondson, The Dutch in Western Guiana, EHR, XVI, 645-75. 

5. Scott's histories were not known to be in existence in 1859 when 
Brodhcad published his History of New York. 

In 1883, Gideon Delaplaine Scull published (privately) his sketch, 
Dorothea Scott otherwise Gotherson-Hogben, in which he makes 
passing mention of Scott's work, calling it undated, although the 
Preface states that it was written in 1669, and dismissing it as an 
"attempt to play on a very limited scale the role of biographer 
and historian somewhat in the manner of Sir Walter Raleigh." Scull 
was unacquainted with any of Scott's other writings, or of the 
exhaustive work on the Scot's Hall Scotts, published (in 1829) by 
James Renat Scott. 

Wilbur C. Abbott published a few excerpts from Scott's Preface 
in his Life of "Colonel" Scott (Yale University Press, 1918, pp. 44, 
45, 46. Reprinted in Conflicts of Oblivion, Harvard University 
Press, 1924, and a revised version in 1935). He wearisomely be- 
labors charges of plagiarism, asking where Scott could have got his 
history and description, thereby proving that he himself had over- 
looked Scott's constant references to his source material. Abbott had 
not read the Hakluyt Society's publications, although these were 
available before he revised his life of Scott in 1935. As this is based 
almost entirely upon Pepys' affidavits, or upon the authors Pilling, 
Scull, and Palfrey, who also drew upon the affidavits, one cannot 
blame too severely the many inaccuracies in Abbott's little volumes. 

Scott's notes relating to New England, Massachusetts, Maine, Can- 
ada, Plymouth, New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia, etc.: a version 
of this appears in the Massachusetts Historical Society Proceedings 
First Series, vol. 13, p. 132. This was possibly taken from an 
English transcription in the Calendar of State Papers, Colonial series, 
American and West Indies, 1661-68, No. 1660. 

6. List of John's maps: 

(1) A large chart of Barbados with detailed description of its coast- 
line, harbor and fortifications. 

(2) Charts of the rivers Orinoco, Amazon, Curenteen (Corentin), 
Berbier and Cheyenne. 

(3) A large map of the gulf of Venezuela de Cora and Lake 
Maracaibo. 

(4) A large map of the Island of Providence. 

(5) A chart of Nicaragua Province, with the great lake in its midst 
emptying into the sea. 



180 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

(6) A very large and excellent chart of Hispaniola with a descrip- 
tion of the towns and the exact soundings of many rivers (this 
probably dated from his first visit in 1654-55). 

(7) A large chart of the Island of Quarasoa (Curacao seventeenth 
century spelling was highly individualistic) a copy of which was sent 
to the Dutch West India Company by Governor Mynheer Becks. 

(8) An exact plan of Cartagena, and a map of Jamaica with har- 
bors and rocky approaches. 

(9) A very large map of Surinam, an exact duplicate of which was 
sent by the Dutch governor there to the State of Zeeland in 1672. 

(10) The Island of St. John de Portrico, and city of the same name 
both in "plan and prospect" with fortifications and harbors. 

(11) Plans and charts of the French West Indies. 

(12) Maps of St. Christopher (St. Kitts). 

(13) A plan of St. Ann harbor on Curasao with fortifications. 

(14) Map of the island of Granada with its harbor fortifications. 

(15) Map of Bermuda, with castles, forts and harbors sketched in. 



CHAPTER XXIII 



MAJOR-GENERAL SCOTT ON 
ACTIVE SERVICE 

"Plantacon trade is one of the greatest Nurseries of the 
Shipping and Seamen of this Kingdome, and one of the 
greatest branches of its trade." 

-Col. Office Records, 1/42, 60; 324 ff 56-58. 

"Fishing is the nursery of their seamen. . . ." 

John Scott, speaking of Holland, in his 
Preface, 1669. 



WHEN THE SECOND DUTCH WAR between England and Hol- 
land was officially proclaimed in 1665 the two countries had 
been skirmishing along the West African coast for nearly a 
y ear _john obtained a commission under Sir Tobias Bridge, 
Commander of the Barbados forces. As Captain of a small 
fleet of six vessels and three hundred and fifty men, John was 
sent to attack the Dutch-held island of Tobago, lying be- 
tween Barbados and Guiana on the South American main- 
land. 

He arrived late in October, only to find that a party of 
eighty privateers had taken the place a few days previously. 
Shades of Henry Morgan! That former Caribbean acquaint- 
ance was still going strong and his uncle, Edward Morgan, 
was in charge at Tobago called himself Admiral too, with 
a commission from Sir Thomas Modyford, Governor of Ja- 
maica, where Henry Morgan and his brave boys had one of 
their headquarters. 

181 



182 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

They had come to Tobago to pillage, but John, who must 
have felt at home with the band, demanded, in the name of 
Governor Willoughby, that the island be proclaimed for the 
King of England. The privateers, "who were all masters and 
reckon what they take to be their own," as Willoughby rue- 
fully reported later, 1 told John they operated under Mody- 
ford's commission. The situation was precarious, for the men 
were wild and mutinous and had taken possession of all the 
Dutch supplies, vast quantities of small arms and ammuni- 
tion, guns and powder. But apparently they presented no 
problems to John, whose early experience with the Brethren 
gave him a confidence few commanders enjoyed. While Gov- 
ernor Willoughby sent urgent word to King Charles entreat- 
ing orders as to how he should behave under similar condi- 
tions in the future, 2 John made a deal with the men and 
took over the island from them. 

Tobago had the best port in the Antilles; it was one of the 
most fruitful isles plenty of fresh water, a wonderful cli- 
mate, had been well settled by the Dutch and excellently 
stocked with Negroes, cattle and horses.* These assets he 
would have purchased from the occupants, but Willoughby's 
resources did not run to such expense, so the privateers set 
fire to the eighteen sugar plants, and began stripping the 
houses of their lovely Delft tiles, destroying all they could 
not carry away "which hath been their custom in all places," 
as Willoughby lamented. 

However by ceding them a plantation near the fort, and 
promising them they could sell their plunder at Barbados, 
John obtained possession of the fort, which they left stand- 
ing, together with five guns and the governor's house, where 
he was able to quarter a hundred men detailed to clinch pos- 
session of the place and guard the King's flag which he 
planted with due ceremony. Some three hundred Dutch in- 



* This is the island where the Swiss family Robinson is supposed to have 
been cast. 



MAJOR-GENERAL SCOTT ON ACTIVE SERVICE f 183 

habitants were sent away, and the remaining English, Scotch 
and Irish settlers took oaths of allegiance to Charles II. 8 It 
must all have seemed very much like a repetition of his Long 
Island campaign. 

Then John pulled up stakes and sailed away and within 
six months had captured "Boromeo and Issikeob" (Parama- 
ribo and Essequibo) on the South American mainland and 
these victories, as well as the successful expeditions sent out 
by Lieutenant-General Byam (Antigua's governor) resulted in 
England holding all the Atlantic Coast of Guiana from 
Cayenne on the southeast to northwest Orinoco where Sir 
Walter Raleigh had once dreamed of finding gold. 

A glowing account of these operations is found in William 
Byam's Journal, preserved among the Ashmolean manu- 
scripts in the Bodleian Library. 4 

"In November 1665 there arrived from his Excellency 
(Lord Willoughby) his Sergeant-major* John Scott after 
his victory at Tobago with a small fleet and a regiment of 
Foote, under the character of Major-General of Guiana, 
Chief Commissioner and Commander-in-Chief by Land and 
Sea;f in a few months his great fortune and gallantry, 
prudent and industrious conduct, made him master of all 
the great province of New Zealand and Desseceub; settled a 
peace with the Arrowayes (Arawak Indians) and left both 
Collonys in a flourishing condition and well garrisoned for 
the King of England." 

Both Byam and Willoughby used John to write up military 
reports and make official "relations" of events, and it has 
been suggested that Scott himself might have inserted this 
generous praise, tossing a bouquet in the copy he made. Com- 
parison of the two existing versions, Byam's signed Journal 
and John's (which is in the British Museum) would seem to 



* This was a senior officer in the seventeenth century. 
f These were expeditionary titles. 



184 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

disprove this implication, while there was never any question 
of his victories, which are officially recorded. 6 

True, combined with his sensibilities as writer, John ex- 
hibited a flash of grand gesture in everything he did. This 
lest we forget was the age, or very nearly, of The Three 
Musketeers, with all its tendency to theatrical bravado. John, 
like D'Artagnan, was full of exuberance. "He will tell you 
some truth, but not all gospel/' 6 wrote another Willoughby 
(William) to Sir Joseph Williamson, well aware of John's* 
tendency to boast. But both public-spirited Willoughbys ap- 
preciated John's very real qualities; there were few men who 
could not only command a raid but write a competent report 
of it. 

"The bearer, Major Scott, will make a better narrative of 
most affairs here and at Leeward than Willoughby can write/' 
the Governor assured Lord Arlington. 7 And indeed Scott's 
"Relation" 8 is far in advance of the military reports of the 
day, giving in logical sequence the general situation, strength 
of the friendly and enemy forces, the actual battle operation 
and how field operations were carried out, with details of 
losses and a summary of the negotiation terms. No wonder 
bluff Sir Francis, a plunger and gambler and every inch the 
Colonial High Commissioner, ready to back his policies with 
his personal fortunes, was only too glad to have such an able 
pen at his command. Personal relations between them seemed 
excellent; Nicolls' plans to ruin John had failed. 

After his success at Tobago and elsewhere, John returned 
to Barbados, where he learned that France, bound by treaty 
obligations to Holland, had declared war on England. He did 
his best to persuade the governor to combine all the newly 
acquired South American garrisons Moruka, Barima, Waco- 
paw, Essequibo into one stronghold, urging that this was the 
best way to meet the threat of combined powerful Dutch and 
French amphibian forces. But Lord Willoughby, now His 
Majesty's Lieutenant-General of the entire area, was of an- 
other opinion. He gave orders for the individual provisioning 



MAJOR-GENERAL SCOTT ON ACTIVE SERVICE f 185 

and garrisoning of these outposts orders which proved inef- 
fectual, for within a year all the places, after suffering great 
misery in a long French siege, were recaptured by the Dutch. 
Sir Francis, meanwhile, embarked on his ill-fated voyage 
to reduce the well-settled French-held section of St. Christo- 
pher, in the Leeward Isles (the English called their half St. 
Kitts). But his ship was lost en route in a violent hurricane, 
and he perished with most of his men. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

1. CSP. Col. Ser. Am. and WL, 1661-68, Nos. 1124-25-26. 

2. Ibid., No. 1125. 

3. Ibid., No. 1124. 

4. Ashmolc MS., 842, ff 109-22; John Scott's copy of this SI. MS., 
3662, ff 349-62. 

5. CSP. Col. Ser. Am. and WL, 1661-68, No. 1657. 

6. Ibid. 

7. I bid., No. 1581. 

8. Ibid., No. 1524. 



CHAPTER XXIV 



THE BATTLE FOR ST. CHRISTOPHER 



"Of all the Colonies which these three nations (English, 
French, Dutch) have planted in America, those that settled 
themselves in the Caribby Islands are of greatest account, 
and the most frequented by Merchants, as being the most 
advantageous upon the score of Trade." 

Davis, History of the Barbados, St. Christo- 
phers, London, 1887, p. 158. 



THE ENGLISH DID NOT, however, abandon their attempt to 
storm St. Christopher and John was soon in the thick of the 
fighting. 

A strong expeditionary force had been sent to the Carib- 
bean under Barbados' new royal governor Sir William Wil- 
loughby, younger brother of the late Francis, whose loss with 
his fleet had given the French momentary command of the 
sea. 

Without waiting for all his ships to arrive, Willoughby de- 
cided to carry out the hazardous attack on the island, and 
dispatched a large contingent commanded by his son Henry. 
But the result was disappointing. 

"They had an ill brush there," Lord Willoughby subse- 
quently reported. "Captain Stapleton, Captain Cotter hurt 
and taken. Williamson's friend Scott escaped, who will give 
a true account of the business." 1 

The French had proved unexpectedly prepared for the 
attack, and the English initial surprise maneuver of landing 
under cover of darkness, as described in Scott's "Relation," 

186 



THE BATTLE FOR ST. CHRISTOPHER f 187 

failed. Next day, they tried again. Almost without casualties, 
English boats put into a flat beach, Sandy Point; but access 
to the enemy was up steep, almost perpendicular cliffs. A 
group of volunteers for the desperate task of scaling the 
heights (the "forlorn," Scott calls them) under the Irish offi- 
cers, Stapleton, Cotter and others, began the ascent. Lt. Col. 
Stapleton led, and after a struggle at the top with M. de St. 
Lawrence's cavalry, succeeded in saving the English flag, only 
to surrender later, along with Captain Cotter. The rest of the 
English, Scott among them, fought doggedly "till most of 
them found graves." ("Relation": Appendix G.) 

"The bravest English attempted the cliffs but were vigor- 
ously repulsed by the French cavalry who hurled them head- 
long down the precipice, showering them with boulders till 
they were forced to take shelter behind the rocks," is how the 
contemporary French historian, Monsieur R. P. du Tertre, 
described the attack. 2 This same writer, whose account of the 
battle is by far the fullest arid clearest of all contemporary 
reports, gives a surprising reason for the English defeat- 
something which Scott's "Relation," somewhat understand- 
ably, does not mention. 

"The Lieutenant[-General] Henry Willoughby," wrote 
du Tertre, "who was drunk and slept through much of the 
fight, when he saw his men surrendering, ordered a fusillade 
on the deserters which so infuriated the French, who by this 
time were mingled with them, that, had they not been re- 
strained by their own officers, would have made short work of 
their prisoners. . . . The Lieutenant-General, having as- 
suaged his chagrin or rage by all the cannonading, which he 
trained on his own men, against all the rules of warfare, de- 
cided on even more dishonorable conduct ... to retreat . . . 
leading with him more than 1 ,500 men who had not put foot 
to land . . . with whom he could have made a diversion, 
dividing our forces, which could have given him the vic- 
tory." 3 

A few days after the English repulse, Commander Tobias 



188 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

Bridge entrusted Scott with a mission to visit the island, take 
money to the imprisoned British officers, negotiate an ex- 
change of prisoners and bring back whatever information he 
could concerning French strength. Scott made his estimates, 
but was shocked at the fraternization going on between the 
Irish officers and the French governor, de la Barr, who had 
come from Martinique and was trapped on St. Kitts. 

Scott's own behavior towards the enemy reflected only too 
strongly his feelings. "He had the effrontery/' recorded du 
Tertre in his history, "to ask M. de St. Lawrence to surrender 
all his territory, if he were desirous of sparing French blood; 
adding that if he did not surrender amicably he would have 
to do so by force, indeed, give up the whole island." 4 (John 
must have thought he was talking to Stuyvesant!) "He offered 
to exchange Sieur Nouel, governor of Sammary, near Cay- 
enne, for Lieutenant-Colonel Stapleton; and he said, inso- 
lently, that if M. de la Barr had been on his flag ship as he 
should have been, they would have captured him too and 
offered him in exchange for the governor." 5 

John said all this with such extreme arrogance that St. 
Lawrence called him down sharply and told him if he con- 
tinued in that strain he would throw him into the sea. 6 The 
French commander was particularly incensed by John's slight- 
ing reference to de la Barr's recent attempt to intercept the 
English fleet before it reached Barbados, and to his attack 
(with fifteen French ships and four Dutch, under de Cryn- 
sens) on Captain Berry's much smaller squadron. 

"Scott returned (from St. Christopher) with little satisfac- 
tion," Commander Tobias Bridge reported from Nevis, 7 "but 
complained of Captain Cotter's great familiarity with the 
French governor and says that most of our soldier prisoners, 
especially the Irish, have taken up arms with the French." 

Retaliation for this statement was immediate. Next morn- 
ing a messenger arrived from the governor of St. Kitts with 
letters from the British officers: Captain Cotter, and others, 
"complained much of Major Scott's imprudent carriage in 
the message and ill deportment in the engagement." 8 



THE BATTLE FOR ST. CHRISTOPHER f 189 

This exchange of compliments is authentic, for it is calen- 
dared in English state papers, and John's arrogance was noted, 
too, by du Tertre. But there is an amazing sequel to this ac- 
cusation and counter-accusation. 

Among Samuel Pepys' private papers there is an unsigned 
unofficial account of a court-martial held on Nevis, January 
4th, 1668, at "My Lord Willoughby's Command," before 
"Sir Tobias Bridge and seventeen other officers, on a charge 
against Captain John Scott, late colonel of Sir Tobias Bridge's 
regiment." Captain Cotter himself initiated the proceedings 
by stating flatly that "it is well known that Scott is a notorious 
coward." 9 

Of all the affidavits Pepys collected about him, this is the 
most damaging, for it has not only been repeated by all of 
Scott's biographers, but has been used as a yardstick to assess 
his every action with deplorable results. 

Actually, such a court-martial never happened. Outside 
Pepys' notebooks there is no mention of it anywhere. In all 
the voluminous Admiralty papers, wherein the most trivial 
routine details are meticulously entered, there is no record of 
it. Among the, literally, hundreds of references in state papers 
to Nevis and everything that happened there including 
courts-martial not one word. In Lord Arlington's report to 
the King on officers of the Barbados regiment, cashiered by 
court-martial (or pardoned) Scott's name is nowhere to be 
found. 10 Even Pepys' version of the alleged court-martial men- 
tions no verdict handed down a most revealing omission. 

Governor Willoughby, writing officially to Arlington after 
the defeat, says he got nothing but obedience and diligence 
from Major Scott. "He will give an account of all transactions 
at Leeward, where he did his part better than some that may 
pretend to have done more. I have no complaint against him, 
but against some others." 11 (Appendix H) 

Various official records offer glimpses of John's further 
West Indies adventures. A communication to Williamson 
from one John Corney, a ship's surgeon, speaks of an en- 



190 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

counter with the Dutch who attacked with five men-o'-war 
"and were warmly handled by Major Scott." 

Action against the Dutch and French was largely a series 
of raids on their coastal towns, burning and destroying enemy 
settlements, forts, goods, wrecking plantations. John had his 
fill of it, daringly carrying out one hundred and sixty thou- 
sand pounds worth of damage for the glory of England; while 
he spent "73,788 pounds of Muscovado sugar on His Maj- 
esty's Service/' He was wounded in the arm, breast and 
shoulder. 12 

The exact figures of his depredations are listed in a peti- 
tion John made to the King for reimbursement, accompanied 
by the tactful suggestion that the amount be charged up to 
the Barbados four and one-half per cent customs duties. 13 
But one wonders if he were ever paid. A second petition 14 re- 
iterates his request, stating that he was out of pocket one 
thousand six hundred and twenty pounds, and that a sum 
which the King had ordered Willoughby to pay him, namely 
seven hundred and thirty-eight pounds, charged on the local 
customs, he had never received. Moreover he had lost his 
ketch worth five hundred pounds in the hurricane which took 
Lord Francis Willoughby's life; while on the Guiana coast 
he had been forced to pay for his soldiers' provisions out of 
his own pocket. It is a sorry picture of English finances, and 
John was not the only one who suffered.* 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

1. CSP. Col. Ser. Am. and WL, 1661-68, No. 478. 

2. du Tertre, Hist. IV, 267. 

3. Ibid., 271. 



* As late as 1668 Sir Tobias Bridge was complaining to the King that from 
the beginning of the campaign he had received little more than a month's 
pay and that his soldiers and officers were "very naked and necessitous." But 
there was no money to bring him, and his troops home . . . The Barbados 
Assembly proposed that the Governor employ him on the island (at 300 
p.a.). This was refused but Bridge was offered "a gratuity of 100. CSP. 
Col. Ser. Am. and W.I., 1661-68, No. 1760, No. 1856; C.EJB., XI, 173-77. 



THE BATTLE FOR ST. CHRISTOPHER f 191 

4. Ibid., 302. 

5. Ibid. 

6. Ibid., 303. 

7. CSP. Co/. S<?r. /4m. and WL, 1661-68, No. 482. 

8. Ibid. 

9. Rawl. MSS., A 175, f 149, r,v. 

10. Co/. Pa/?., XX VII, 31. 

11. CSP. Co/. Ser. /4m. and WI., 1661-68, No. 1580. 

12. Ibid., No. 1531. 

13. Ibid., No. 1525. 

14. Ibid., No. 1526. 



CHAPTER XXV 



ROYAL GEOGRAPHER 



"In perils by sea, in perils by kind, I have passed through 
good reports and ill, as is the lot of all who charge fortune 
boldly. But I bless that God who so often saved me . . . 
never suffered me to return from beyond the seas so much 
in love with other countries as to retain any prejudice, by 
what 1 have seen abroad, to the land of my nativity." 

John Scott, Preface. 



BLISSFULLY UNCONSCIOUS of Cotter's charge against himself, 
John proceeded to London to report to the King, glad of this 
chance to press his personal claims as well. But just as he 
seemed about to reap the reward of two years' service, mis- 
fortune dealt him an entirely gratuitous blow. He was "sur- 
prised at his lodgings by four bailiffs who forced him into a 
coach and clapped him into Gatehouse prison," for a debt 
incurred at the time of his last visit. 1 His anguished appeal to 
Lord Arlington reflects the first hint of bitterness that 
haunted his belief that he was being used, then cast aside. 

His long letter recapitulates the details of two former peti- 
tions to the King for reimbursement. He tells of resettling the 
islands of Moritserrat and Antigua, and how, before he had 
been thirty hours at Barbados, he had re-embarked for Eng- 
land upon Lord Willoughby's orders, to give His Majesty an 
account of affairs in the West Indies. He had saved the royal 
ships from the fury of the hurricane by persuading them to 
put to sea, while ten merchantmen, that stayed, were beaten 
to pieces ... he had served a gracious Prince, yet for thirty 

192 



ROYAL GEOGRAPHER f 193 

pounds and ten shillings and that not due, he is hurried to a 
jail, and without influence upon his Majesty for release, must 
be carried ... on the morrow ... by a habeas corpus to the 
King's Bench! 2 Even the self-centered Arlington was touched 
by the plea. Scott was released, and actually awarded one 
hundred pounds. 

But it would have been a monstrous double wrong had he 
been left in prison, for his debt had been incurred over the 
sixty pounds worth of curiosities he had bought to prosecute 
the Athcrton case for Winthrop and his friends, a sum the 
interested parties had promised to refund. He had had to 
raise the cash in London with a bill of exchange on one 
Thomas Alcocke, a member of the Atherton Company. John's 
futile efforts to collect the money, as detailed in the Chancery 
suit 3 he finally brought against those involved, give a vivid in- 
sight to the chain of ill luck that hounded his every financial 
transaction. 

London itself presented a shocking spectacle as he left the 
prison and picked his way through the charred ruins of the 
Great Fire. The double horror of plague and conflagration 
had shattered the nation's nerves, and a vast uneasiness 
gripped the popular mind. Rumors were rife, fears of popish 
arsonists and wholesale massacre swept the City. There was a 
smell of revolution in the air, mobs broke the windows of the 
new Piccadilly palaces, sacked shops, clamored for parlia- 
ment's recall. What the people wanted was a scapegoat for 
all the recent troubles, and their natural target was the Ad- 
ministration Chief, the Earl of Clarendon. The violence of 
their protests against this minister must have rejoiced John's 
heart. For it was to this potent figure that governor Nicolls 
had once complained of John's determined opposition to the 
new colonial policy that he, Clarendon, was trying to im- 
pose upon New England. That fact had been grimly recorded 
in the Chancellor's tenacious memory. 

''The unkindness of the Earl of Clarendon and my zeal 
to my king and country have been my ruin," John once 



194 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

lamented to Arlington 4 while reviewing his own conduct in 
Long Island and Massachusetts. The significant political 
changes inherent in the great man's imminent downfall 
looked as if they would coincide with a fresh start for John 
Scott. 

The old pilot was finally dropped, impeached, and ban- 
ished from England, to be replaced by a new ministry the 
famous Cabal so-called from the initials of its five members. 
Scott's patron, Sir Henry Bennet boyhood friend of Charles 
II and one of Europe's most skillful and experienced diplo- 
matswas one of the five, under his new title, Lord Arling- 
ton. Two others were the Duke of Buckingham and Anthony 
Ashley Cooper (afterwards Earl of Shaftesbury), both of 
whom looked kindly upon the talented and forceful John. 

The latter's reports on the West Indies situation were 
noted, and, we must presume, appreciated, since John was im- 
mediately given a new assignment to investigate the New- 
foundland Fisheries, which for some years had been threat- 
ened by the French. His survey,* a thoroughly competent bit 
of work, was submitted in July 1668; and, perhaps because 
of it, or as a general vindication of all his past activities, a 
special reward awaited him. 

By the end of August, 1668, a royal warrant, countersigned 
by Arlington, conferred on John Scott a government appoint- 
ment, the post of Royal Geographer. It must have been the 
proudest moment of his life: it wiped out, in a blaze of glory, 
the losses and disappointments of the previous years. 

CHARLES R 

Our Will and pleasure is that you give order for the 
swearing of Our Trusty and Well beloved Major John Scott 
to be our Servant in quality of Geographer unto us, and 
that he be admitted thereunto as Our Servant in Ordinary, 
and receive and enjoy all Rights, profitts, privileges and 
advantages thereunto., belonging. And for so doing this 



" In Bodleian Library. 



ROYAL GEOGRAPHER f 195 

shall be your Warrant. Given at our Court at Whitehall the 
29th day of August, 1668 in the Twentieth year of our 
Reign. 

To Our Right Trusty and Right Well beloved Cousin 
and Councillor, Edward Earl of Manchester, Lord Chamber- 
lain of Our Household. 5 

With what satisfaction John must have read and reread the 
precious document. His gifts were finally recognized, the 
King's nomination was positive proof of his industry and 
skill, he had his place at Court. 

But there was no money in it. The post carried no stipend, 
nor were any "profitts" discernible. John was as hard put to 
it as ever to make a living, and his country seemed to offer 
little or no opportunity, at that jnoment, of acquiring an 
honest livelihood. England's finances were hardly better than 
John's. The royal exchequer showed a constant deficit as 
Commons voted annually less and less. The King dug deep 
into his private purse to eke out the costs of his growing navy. 
Even so, many of his seamen went unpaid and were tempted 
to serve on foreign ships, while his ambassadors abroad 
chafed under the galling restriction of salaries long overdue. 

Obviously the Royal Geographer had little to expect from 
Royal quarters. 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

1. S.P. Dom. Car., II, 233, No. 74. 

2. Ibid. 

3. Collins, Ch. Pro., 221. 

4. S.P. Dom. Car., II, 493, No. 70. 

5. Warrant copied in Rawl. MSS., A 175, f 158. 



CHAPTER XXVI 



COLONEL SCOTT IN HOLLAND 



"It seems we no longer understand war." 

Colonel Bampficld to DC Witt, April 1672. 
Petrus Johannes Block, Hist, of I he People 
of the Netherlands, IV, 336. 



LIKE so MANY impecunious English officers of the period, 
John turned to the Continent to try his fortune. There was, 
at this period, little sense of nationalism; men passed easily 
back and forth across the Channel, seeking outlets for their 
talents, finding employment where they could: they officered 
foreign regiments, served at different Courts. Only the bud- 
ding industrial skills were sacrosanct, and artisans and tech- 
nicians were strictly forbidden to "pass beyond the seas." 

France was Europe's mccca. The court of Louis XIV, the 
"Sun King," surpassed all others in magnificence and wealth, 
and John's first thought was of Paris. He must have made 
some move in this direction for he is the subject of official 
correspondence, judging from a letter in the Quai d'Orsay 
archives. 

This is from Charles Colbert de Croissey, newly arrived 
French Ambassador to England, and brother of Louis' ex- 
ceptional administrator, the "great" Colbert, as he is known 
in France. 

De Croissey had installed himself in London (1668) in 
sumptuous style, keeping open table, celebrating Mass every 
Sunday with ten richly garbed priests. No foreign ambassador 

196 



COLONEL SCOTT IN HOLLAND f 197 

had ever enjoyed such prestige and power; he had a secret un- 
derstanding with the principal advisers to the Crown, and 
busied himself in national policies as though he were an Eng- 
lish Cabinet minister. He was a man who could well have 
helped John. 

But the latter's appeal to serve in the French West Indies 
was fruitless. "It is very difficult for us to make use of John 
Scott in America," wrote Colbert to Pomponne* at St. Ger- 
main early in 1669. 1 "That country being very well known it 
would be dangerous for us to use an Englishman there/' 

John did not give up all hopes of serving the French, and 
after a year came back again to the Marquis de Croisscy with 
a proposition for gun-casting in France. According to the am- 
bassador's subsequent letter, and the two memoires concern- 
ing this project, 2 it aroused considerable interest which was 
later to bring results. -f In the meantime John looked else- 
where for a position. 

His Long Island background and knowledge of the Dutch 
language made him seem useful to the United Provinces. 

"I was commanded to go to Holland,'* he stated, in his 
Chancery suit, 3 "then returned to England with the Prince of 
Orange and on his business." This was when the Dutch 
Prince, then only eighteen years oi age, ignored by the Re- 
publican government at home and rigorously kept out of all 
public office, was visiting his English royal uncle and seeking 
to fortify his position. He was in very short order to be made 
Captain-General of the United Provinces' military forces. 

Once again John crossed the Channel, still "on the Prince's 



* Simon Arnauld Marquis de Pomponne, formerly French Ambassador at 
The Hague, adroit diplomat of the incomparable Mazarin school, became 
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in 1671. 

f In this second letter of the French ambassador, he does not mention 
Scott by name, but the identity is unmistakable. He refers to "the English 
officer, who for this project, proposed making some sample 7-lb gun models." 
In France, John Scott, with the help of D'Allie/ de la Tour, French Pur- 
veyor of the Navy, made some 7-lb models of his guns, Mil. Ch. Pro., C8, 
638, No. 61. 



198 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

affairs/' And soon we hear that John is officially attached to 
the Dutch army, to recruit and train troops in Holland and 
Zeeland no unusual procedure at all, for English "younger 
sons" often acquired similar commissions abroad. 

The Hague municipal archives of 1669 show that John 
Scott, sergeant-major (a senior officer at that period), ap- 
pointed a certain Englishman, Wilhemus Akers, as lieutenant 
in his company and made him recruiting officer to round up 
and deliver soldiers for Scott's regiment at Berg-op-Zoom. 4 A 
little more than a year later John was sworn in as sergeant- 
major and captain; and by February 16, 1672, he is full 
colonel of infantry and captain.* 5 

John had seven companies, two in s-Hertogenbosch, a big 
garrison town in the southeast; two at Goringchem in central 
Holland, the main defense of the so-called water line and 
usually winter headquarters; one at Schoonhoven, not too far 
from The Hague; and two in Zeeland, the next most im- 
portant province (after Holland), of all the seven United 
Provinces. This entailed constant traveling. He was in the 
Lichtung [administration]; i.e., he had no command in the 
field, but was responsible for the supervision of the officers, 
discipline, and training. (Among the papers confiscated from 
his London chambers in 1682, were Dutch manuals, drill in- 
structions for musketry practice, etc., all considered very 
modern at that period, where it was customary, even in the 
famous French army as late as 1680, to attach a youngster to 
a regiment and let him pick up what he could, without mili- 
tary instruction.) 

John's work was gruelling for the United Provinces were 



* In the seventeenth century commanders of regiments were often called 
not colonel, but sergeant-major. A commander-in-chief was sergeant-major- 
general. In the military organization of that period, the colonel (or sergeant- 
major) was also captain of its senior company. The officer who actually led 
that company was, by title, only captain-lieutenant. However, not too great 
precision was observed in naming rank. Commander Bridge, for example, 
referred to John Scott as both major and captain in one and the same 
dispatch. 



COLONEL SCOTT IN HOLLAND f 199 

regrouping and realigning their entire forces.* After the 
Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, 1668, the Dutch had considerably 
reduced their army, their magazines were empty, their officers 
undisciplined, their fortifications neglected. Grand Pensioner 
de Witt began to change all that. He appointed expert foreign 
officers, and hoped to raise 100,000 men to meet the expected 
attack. He was well aware that Louis XIV longed to dupli- 
cate his former brilliant victories and take over still more 
Spanish possessions in the Low Countries.f He knew that 
the French king was forging the weapons for this calculated 
aggression with all the vast resources of his country's riches 
and military genius. But de Witt counted on Holland's al- 
liance with France to delay this calamity and he refused to 
believe in England's secret negotiations with the latter coun- 
try. But King Charles, despite his treaty with Holland, was 
on the verge of a yet more comprehensive agreement with 
his cousin in Paris. This was the famous (or infamous) Treaty 
of Dover. So urgent was Charles' desire to be financially in- 
dependent of his parliament, that, in return for substantial 
French subsidies, he promised to aid France militarily, de- 
clare himself a Catholic, and restore Catholicism in England! 
The fatal character of this document was the key to Europe's 
foreign policy for the next decade, and its torturous impli- 
cations, so alien to the hearts of most of the King's subjects, 
would have surpassed their shocked understanding had they 
grasped but a fraction of the terms. ("There is a mystery in 



* Dorothy Temple, wife of the British Ambassador, Sir William, in her 
voluminous correspondence writes on October 31st, 1670, that Holland in- 
tended raising fourteen new regiments of foot, and six of horse, and that 
all the companies new and old should comprise 150 men, instead of 50; 
and every troop 80, instead of the former 45. "These new levies please every- 
oneare talked of everywhere." In the same letter she mentions Major Scott 
receiving certain news from Williamson "and so, you probably know it too," 
she adds to her husband, as though there were cooperation between the two. 
John gave the Ambassador an autographed copperplate reproduction of one 
of his West Indies maps a beautiful thing which Sir William, much to 
Pepys' surprise, hung in his dining room. 

f Louis claimed these Spanish possessions in lieu of his Spanish wife's 
unpaid dot. 



200 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

this, more than I dare speak of," declared John Scott, half 
sensing the awful truth, as he spoke in the House of Com- 
mons years later.) 

The preparations for this momentous change were carried 
out in the very strictest secrecy. In the Cabal cabinet, only 
Clifford and Arlington, both Catholics, knew about it. Even 
Buckingham, the King's confidant and playmate, never 
guessed what was afoot, although he was chosen to negoti- 
ate a traite simule, or mock treaty with Louis. While the 
keen-nosed Ashley was so far from sniffing the odor of popery 
this time that the King (when finally signing the Dover 
Treaty in 1670) created him Earl of Shaftesbury in a mood of 
almost mocking prodigality. 

It was against this background of political maneuvering 
that John tackled his technical job. There was a great deal 
about the Dutch Republic which appealed to him; its spirit 
was quite unlike that of New Netherland. He speaks of his 
close friendship with Jan de Witt, in several instances calls 
him "brother," although at the crucial moment when he was 
forced to choose, John remained a loyal Englishman. 

De Witt had been in office since 1653, a skilled, upright, 
highly intelligent public servant. His prominent eyes and 
large hooked nose lacked the appeal of Louis XIV's handsome 
features, but this aristocratic Republican, who went on foot 
through the city followed by a single servant, was one of the 
most eminent statesmen in Europe. He had a consummate 
sense of political balance, steering for long years a safe course 
among the French, Spanish and English. He was a magnifi- 
cent orator, who despised the mob and prayed every day to 
preserve his country from the fury of Kings his country, 
whose century-long fight for independence may have bur- 
nished in John's mind bright memories of his own brief 
stand for freedom and human dignity. 

The United Provinces, a mere hand's breadth of territory 
on the North Sea with seven practically autonomous little 
states differing from one another in language, manners and 



COLONEL SCOTT IN HOLLAND f 201 

race had become a nation only owing to its early heroic 
struggle against unparalleled Spanish tyranny and persecu- 
tion. In this epic conflict of eighty years, facing one of the 
greatest European empires, the Dutch themselves had become 
great a vast naval and commercial commonwealth, with 
their own empire girdling the earth. 

And just as their great leader in the sixteenth century, 
William the Silent, brought them independence and union 
by his courageous resistance, so his noble descendant in the 
seventeenth century, the young Prince of Orange, met in- 
vasion with the same indomitable assurance which halted the 
enemy, saved the homeland, and eventually put him on the 
English throne. 

Such blazing issues appealed to John's sense of drama, com- 
pelled his admiration and zeal. He made countless friends 
among Dutch senators and governors. 

"He is very kindly used in this country and is in great 
credit with de Witt and all the principal ones of the States," 
reported James Vernon to Williamson in January 1672, "and 
in many cases this good will is reciprocated." 7 

"He is one that hath great trust from these people," 8 Gel- 
son (Pepys' friend) wrote of John from Amsterdam to a Lon- 
don merchant, Zachias Thorn. "He knows affairs of Holland 
as any man in the Netherlands. He was chosen governor of 
Roos, but they impose an oath of abjuration against the King 
(Charles II) and his generals, which no honest man can do, 
let his condition be never so desperate." 9 John's noncon- 
formist conscience again stood in the way of easy advance- 
ment. 

Dutch service was not without its drawbacks, however. 
Life in garrison towns (outside The Hague) was dull. While 
others gambled and duelled John worked on his histories and 
maps, sketching points of strategic interest. 

As commanding officer, he was responsible for provision- 
ing and advancing money to his men, and the States were not 
always punctual in repaying their commanders, a failing by 



202 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

no means confined to the Dutch. Army financing was a per- 
sonal affair in Holland: customarily the military authorities 
granted regimental concessions to certain private individuals 
a sort of banker-solicitor-paymaster who advanced the nec- 
essary sums and then collected from the War Office. This was 
an investment on his part; he bought a regiment as he might 
buy a block of municipal bonds, and he charged interest, 
money which was frequently deducted from the men's pay. 
When troop expenditures were met irregularly the com- 
mander could either shoulder the loss or cashier a few men 
and recuperate by drawing their expenses later. Horses and 
military equipment were his own property; but an incoming 
new colonel had to take over the regiment just as it was 
whatever deficits of pay or materiel formerly existed were his 
to cope with. On the other hand, he had certain perquisites; 
twelve horses at his disposal, a following of secretaries and 
servants and a large wine allowance. During the winter 
months colonels were sometimes made governors of a fortress 
or of a town, so that despite the exasperating financial sys- 
tem, commissions in the United Provinces' forces were eagerly 
sought by the Dutch nobility, and by younger sons of wealthy 
or noble German and English families. There was a rectitude 
and integrity, especially under the high-minded William of 
Orange, which excluded adventurers. Unlike most other na- 
tions, the Dutch Republic forbade the purchase of commis- 
sions; and bribery for promotion in the army was unknown. 10 

But the tedium of garrison life told on John's thirst for 
excitement. "Colonel Scott, that mercurial man, rests not 
one day in a place, to the wonder of the English since all 
officers are commanded to their garrisons" is a report among 
the Holland state papers. 11 He was drinking heavily too, a 
sure sign he was in low spirits. "Major Scott, riding-master 
Van Hill, and Strongh, smash things up in the coffeehouse of 
Matheus de Bruyn, at the Hofsingel" reads an entry in the 
Yearbook of the Historical Society "Die Haghe." 12 

He seemed to care little for his reputation. Even on his 



COLONEL SCOTT IN HOLLAND f 203 

trips back to London he acted with reckless insouciance, 
punishing real or fancied slights in an outrageous manner. 

"It is possible you have not heard of the disaster of the 
Earl of Anglesey the other day," wrote Sir William Gower 
to a friend in the country. (Anglesey was Treasurer of the 
Navy, a good worker, but so venal people said he had sold 
himself too often to be worth anything.) "His coach being 
stopped in the street, Major Scott came to him and told him 
he had received injuries from him of a high nature, that he 
must come out and fight. The Earl answered he was no 
swordsman, professed it not, he might seek another way of 
remedy. Major Scott replied his [i.e. the Earl's] power was too 
great in those ways; he would take that where there was more 
equality; in short, pulled him out of his coach and with a 
boisterous cudgel beat him in an extraordinary manner. 
Sober men look upon it as the action deserves, others make 
sport of it/' 13 

No one could feel very sorry for the slippery Anglesey. He 
was universally unpopular at the moment for he was sus- 
pected of lining his pockets at the expense of the Navy. But 
the fact that John could go unpunished after such violence 
to a Minister would seem to show that either public opinion 
considered the assault justified, or that John was exceedingly 
well protected by the Cabal, particularly by Buckingham.* 

John's was a complex disarming nature, his unbridled 
exuberance steeled with commonsense. He was a great re- 
senter with a deep-seated craving to be of value and to serve. 
An inordinate touchiness kept his temper at flame point, 
making him many enemies. But his was a character to attract 
and enchant, for his temperamental excitability was offset by 
sparkling whimsical talk which won him immediate friends. 

Occasionally this charm and captivating talk made him 
enemies too. But in this case his enemies would be women. 



* "My Lord Anglesey was Buckingham's enemy and the best head in the 
Council." MSS. Fr. Corr. Pol., V. 92, 137, Colbert's gossipy letter to Louis 
XIV. 



204 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

1. Cinq Cents de Colbert, MS., 204, 210. 

2. Aff. Etran. Dip. Corr. pol. Angleterre, 102, ff 167, 166, v.r. 

3. Collins Ch. Pro., 221. 

4. Not. Arch. Hague. Mun., Protocol of notary C. Dispontejn, No. 
592, Dec. 21, 1669. 

5. Arch. Raad. v. St. (Counsel of St.): Resolutions, No. 92/93, Mar. 
12th, 1672; Ten Raa, Het St. Leger, V, 489; John's signature in 
OathBks.,No. 1928, 154, 170. 

6. Arch. Raad. v. St., No. 1928, inventory; Resolutions: 92/93 in ; 
ventory, Ten Raa, Het St. Leger, 278. 

7. S.P. Roll., 84/188, f 76. 

8. Ibid., f 77. 

9. S.P. Fr., 77/40, f 73. 

10. Information contributed to me personally by Colonel Siersema 
and Colonel Wijn, historians of the Krijgsgeschiedkundige Afdeling 
van de Generate Staf, The Hague, August 1955. 

11. S.P. Holl., 84/188, ff 244, 289. 

12. Johanna Beck, 'Eene Wandeling door s-Gravenhage in 1679, p. 157. 

13. HMC MSS. (Var. Coll., of Sir George Wombwell, bart), II, 127-28. 



CHAPTER XXVII 



DEBORAH EGMONT AND THE 
RECRUITING OFFICER 



"These golden stars, these fragrant flowers, 

Eventual glories and delights 
Bright spirits in their golden bowers 

Are still ourselves in various Lights." 
John Scott. 



IN THE MARKET SQUARES and other public places of Berg- 
op-Zoom during the early spring days of 1671 one could often 
see a tall, handsome, lusty fellow, accompanied by a few 
robust veterans, making a rousing speech to the crowds, and 
jingling a purse of coins in his pocket. 

This was Willy Akers, English lieutenant in the Dutch 
forces, and John Scott's recruiting officer. 

The States-General had no national recruiting. It was all 
done locally, and Akers was an old hand at the game; had 
been with John for nearly two years. When on the job, he 
usually had a pretty girl or two around and saw to it that 
some of his followers would be brandishing a loaf of fine 
white bread or gnawing on a succulent roast fowl, just to give 
an idea of how well one fared in the army. 

Actual enlistment was concluded between a couple of 
drinks in a local tavern, and if the new recruit later re- 
gretted the step or felt he had been "overpersuaded," there 
was no drawing back, for there were always plenty of wit- 
nesses to swear they had seen him drinking the Prince's 

205 



206 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

health. Those who wavered were very few, however. The pre- 
vailing mood was determined and belligerent, for no one ex- 
pected peace to last. 

John was pleased by the way Akers "brought them in"; he 
was a fine lad. And he had an eye for a wench, too. There was 
a certain girl John had noted once or twice who was she 
that blonde with the inviting smile? 

"Deborah van Egmont, a friend of my sister, Madame de 
Saint-Amoer," Akers told John. "A lively piece. Her father 
was a servant in the Prince of Orange's household. She 
lodges here in Druart's house with the Saint-Amoers." 

John wanted an introduction, so Akers brought the two 
together and John visited Deborah at her friends' lodging. 

He was full of compliments about her father, asking all 
about him, flattering her by insinuating that de Witt himself 
had said that her old man must be related to the Egmonts, 
one of Holland's first families. She giggled and blushed and 
lifted great blue eyes to him, asking what his name was and 
what he was doing. He told her he was Royal Geographer to 
his Britannic Majesty King Charles II. (But she was not so 
simple as to believe thatl) He stayed by her side all evening 
and whispered that he was moving his company from the 
Berg-op-Zoom garrison to Gennisperhuys camp, a fort near 
Gennep. Wouldn't she come along, and visit him there? She 
and her friend, Willy Akers' sister, of course? 

When the troops left town, Deborah went along. Saint- 
Amoer was one of John's sergeants whose wife followed the 
colors, so Deborah had every reason for going with her friend. 

This sentimental Dutch interlude is fully documented in 
two long affidavits Deborah subsequently made. The first, in 
1672, before a Dutch notary, concerned John's dealings with 
his recruiting officer and army solicitor, Dispontejn. It was 
made at the latter's request and Deborah was under no pres- 
sure at all in her sworn statement. 

The second, made in London in 1680, covering the same 
incidents seem to show that Deborah had been "got at," and 



DEBORAH EGMONT & THE RECRUITING OFFICER f 207 

brought into the Pepys-h plot! It introduces a great deal of 
John's alleged conversation revealing him as planning to 
"ruin and spoil England," "lead a company up the river of 
London to make England dance"; and urging his officers to 
"land, and burn and plunder the English shores." 1 As some of 
this evidence is self-contradictory, disproved by official rec- 
ords, and all of it pretty silly, there is no need to go into it at 
any length. But the incident with Akers and Dispontejn as 
revealed by Deborah receives confirmation in Dutch law 
courts and belongs in the story of John's life. 

It was more fun at Gennep than at Berg-op-Zoom. Big, 
fashionable Dordrecht was nearby, and Deborah went to 
Court there and met the dashing Major Scott again, who en- 
tertained her in company and asked her to visit his rooms 
where he promised to show her some pretty drawings. 

But it was in an upper chamber of a Schwindrech tavern, 
where they had all gone to drink, that Deborah first saw 
John's "pictures." The table was strewn with colored charts 
and drafts, and one of John's men, Richard Adams, a former 
seal engraver at the Hague, was working over them. 

"What is he doing?" asked Deborah. 

"He's a copyist, a really fine draughtsman. He's making a 
copy of one of my maps," said John. 

Deborah looked wonderingly at the large sheet with its be- 
wildering lines and colored sections. "Is this the river of 
London?" she asked at last. "Yes," he whispered, "that's the 
river of London. Pretty, isn't it?" he observed turning to ad- 
dress Admiral Van Putten, de Witt's brother, who had been 
inspecting John's troops that afternoon and who had just 
entered the room and was glancing at the maps. But the Ad- 
miral only wanted a word with the major and had no time to 
examine the drawings, for he was on his way to a big "do" at 
Utrecht. 

The friendship progressed. John often took Deborah out, 
but always with friends. She became more and more inter- 
ested in everything the troops were doing in order to find out 



208 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

where her major was. She was like a child with a new toy. 
Forgetting her former infatuation with a Sergeant Nederway, 
she had eyes only for the tall English officer and felt per- 
sonally aggrieved when he left Gennisperhuys as he often 
did. "You go away and no one knows where," she pouted. 
"Three times you've gone and don't say where you've been." 

He never told her about his other companies. He never 
told her anything that mattered. She was a little goose, but a 
pretty goose. An inquisitive one, too. She pried into his af- 
fairs, took delight in all the regimental gossip, scandal anSL 
squabbles, and, since several of the men were quartered with 
the Saint-Amoers, had plenty of opportunity of indulging her 
curiosity. 

"That Akers is a rascal/' she told John one day. "He's not 
loyal at all. I have often heard him say he is sick of serving 
the States. He says he'll be damned if he'd stay with them any 
longer . . . he'd rather be with the French. . . . They pay 
better, he says. Do they pay better? When he was going to be 
sworn in as lieutenant by the States' Councillors, he said the 
oath didn't mean a thing to him; he'd keep his fingers 
crossed, for he didn't care two hoots about it. It was no 
more to him than drinking a glass of wine, he said." 2 

This would have been bad enough news about such an in- 
defatigable recruiting officer. But John was having other 
troubles with Akers. 

During John's absence, the army solicitor, Dispontejn, had 
visited Berg-op-Zoom with two hundred florins for the 
troops. "I saw him pay the money to Akers," Deborah told 
John. "It was at our house, and Akers showed me the receipt 
dated April 23rd, 1671, written by Dispontejn. But Akers 
changed it to April 28th, because he said that was the date 
he got the money." 3 

John asked Akers about the consignment, complaining that 
the lieutenant was always putting him off when asked for an 
accounting about his recruits. 

"The men are beginning to complain about you, Akers; 



DEBORAH EGMONT & THE RECRUITING OFFICER f 209 

they say some of them are not getting paid at all or as little 
as four pennies six at most and others are getting short 
rations they don't get enough bread/' 4 There were con- 
tinual disputes and charges over this money. On one occasion 
John flew into a rage and drew his sword, threatening his 
subordinate, but Deborah calmed him down and got the 
sword back into its sheath, 5 though she did little to improve 
relations between the two men. Recriminations and angry 
scenes were constant. The troops openly declared Akers was 
swindling them, giving the money to his mother, a camp 
scrounger. 6 But although John cursed him out, calling him 
scamp and scoundrel, he did nothing about it. He was care- 
less concerning money. Or he may not have been convinced 
that Akers was really at fault. Perhaps Dispontejn was re- 
sponsible for the shortage. The latter's very function was an 
exasperating one likely to invite ill feeling or resentment and 
the major was not one to forget a grudge. This could have 
been a reason for blaming the solicitor for the deficit, rather 
than his able compatriot, Akers. 

A week after they arrived in Gennep there was another in- 
cident. "You received five hundred florins from Dispontejn 
in May," Scott charged his lieutenant. "You get this money 
and you keep it a secret from me. Moreover you changed the 
receipt date on this too ... it was May 15th. I saw it on the 
document before you altered it to May 17th. . . ," 7 which 
was two days after the books had been balanced. 

Akers was defiant. "You altered that date yourself, Major/' 
he said, "or had it altered by someone else, to harm Dis- 
pontejn. You want to get him in Dutch/ 1 he added with a 
laugh. 8 

Still John took no steps against Akers, but apparently 
started to build up a case against the army solicitor. He 
talked with young Johan van der Pijll, Dispontejn's assistant, 
needling him into derogatory statements about his superior. 9 

One day, as Deborah started out for a visit to The Hague, 
she was overtaken by one of John's corporals, sent after her 



210 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

with a message from the major and the request that he might 
accompany her as far as Nimeguen, which was on the way, 
so he said. 

Within a quarter of an hour John himself came by riding 
a magnificent white horse which he turned over to his cor- 
poral when Deborah accepted his escort. They went slowly 
on their way together, and when they reached Moke they 
found an obliging wagoner who let them climb up behind 
and ride on the hay. 

John slipped his arm round Deborah's plump waist. He 
held her comfortably against him and with practiced fingers 
began to unbutton her gown . . . the scene is not hard to 
imaginewe have John's several references to his casual af- 
fairs, and the girl was so very willing. 

The scene in the wagon stems from the 1680 the doctored 
affidavit . . . Deborah never even mentioned it in 1672. 
And her account of John's offered bribes if indeed he actu- 
ally made them sounds as if he were trying to get her to 
promise something very different from what she said he 
wanted. 

"Do you know how Dispontejn has been dealing with my 
men?" 10 asked John. 

"Yes, he has always paid the company very well and ad- 
vanced you more than your due and you go away with it so 
as nobody could find where you were.* When the Company 
needed their pay Dispontejn advanced the money to Sergeant 
Nederway who brought it from The Hague to Berg-op- 
Zoom; I saw it at Druart's house, in the room where Lieu- 
tenant Akers and his mother and I were together." 11 

John had replaced Nederway in Deborah's affections and 
she never let him forget the sergeant's name possibly to stir 
his jealousy. 

"What have you to do with that?" answered John. "I would 
not have you say anything of your seeing that money, but give 



* Deborah was unaware of the existence of John's other companies. 



DEBORAH EGMONT & THE RECRUITING OFFICER f 211 

me a note under your hand declaring you never saw it, I'll 
take you to a man who will write it [for she could not write 
herself] and then you can set your hand and swear to it." 12 

"Then I must swear my soul to hell, for I saw the money. I 
believe Dispontejn pays the Company very well, the company 
could not have a better solicitor than he," 13 insisted Deborah. 

"You don't know how matters stand between Dispontejn 
and me," retorted John, "For he pretends that I have set 
my hand to his book of accounts, but he is a rogue and a 
rascal and I must make him a liar; and if you will swear what 
I would have you, that you never saw that money, I will give 
you four hundred guilders and your choice of some new 
French stuffs which I have in two trunks at The Hague, the 
like of which no one has ever seen." 11 

"I am in want of no stuffs nor anything else and therefor 
would not be tempted to swear to an untruth." 

"What about a very fine ring?" 15 

Deborah peeled off her glove and showed John the very 
fine one which the Duke of Gloucester had given her when 
he left for England with the King. John tried to persuade 
her to change her mind. "Mine will be a much better ring 
than the Duke's," he whispered. 16 

She continued her refusals, but he would not take no for 
an answer. Then, since nothing would satisfy him, she began 
to relent and said she would ask the advice of an uncle she 
had in The Hague. This seemed to please him and nothing 
more was said in the wagon until they reached Nimeguen, 
where, as Deborah distinctly remembered eight years later, 
they spent the night at the Sign of the Smoked Salmon. 

The next morning John was the conscientious officer back 
on the job again, inquiring about ships to Rotterdam. Noth- 
ing till late afternoon. He invited Deborah to go with him 
over the water to a place where the wagons stood for Utrecht. 
She agreed, but his attitude seemed to have changed, he 
paid little or no attention to her on the trip. He was busy 
measuring the pund, or flat-bottomed boat they were in, 



212 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

questioning the ferryman about other possible punds locally 
available for transporting horses and baggage. (If he had to 
bring his men this way he would need a good many.) 

The two passed the day together and then John took his 
leave, asking her, at parting, where she would be staying at 
The Hague, for he certainly would not fail to visit her, he 
said, just as soon as she arrived. 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

1. Rawl. MSS., A 175, ff 6, 7, 8, 19. 

2. Ibid. 

3. Ibid., ff 13, 14; Not. Arch. Hague Mun., No. 392, f 323. 

4. Ibid. 

5. Rawl. MSS., A 175, f 13. 

6. Ibid., f 15; Not. Arch. Hague Mun., No. 392, f 324. 

7. Ibid., "John Scott and Akers quarrelled about change of date." 

8. Rawl. MSS., A 175, f 23; Not. Arch. Hague Mun., No. 715, ff 343, 
395. 

9. Ibid., f 396. 

10. Rawl. MSS., A 175, f 12. 

11. lbid.,i 13. 

12. Ibid. 

13. Ibid. 

14. Ibid., f 14. 

15. Ibid. 

16. Ibid., f 15. 



CHAPTER XXVIII 



DISPONTEJN GOES TO JAIL 

"When in doubt, win the trick." 
-Edmond Hoyle, 1672. 



THERE is NO RECORDED REASON for John's treatment of his 
army solicitor. The disputed sum was comparatively trivial- 
seven hundred guilders in all, or roughly one hundred and 
forty dollars, though it was worth much more then. The fact 
that he decided to take legal action about it points to the 
basic honesty prevailing in the Dutch army. For in November 
of 1671, while garrisoned at Wesel, John authorized an attor- 
ney, one Willem Lissart, to institute, before the Gecommit- 
terde Raden (Deputy States of Holland), proceedings against 
Dispontejn for forging his, Scott's, signature. 1 A few months 
later, also at John's orders, Lissart proceeded against Abra- 
ham Arents, a Jewish moneylender at Gennep, for making 
unauthorized loans to Lieutenant Akers and Sergeant 
Nederway. 2 

Pending trial Dispontejn was imprisoned in The Hague 
Stadhaus. And almost immediately he was caught up in a 
perfect opera-bouffe quibble over jurisdictional procedure 
between The Hague High Bailiff (magistrate) Rudolph van 
Paffenrode, and his political opponent, the Attorney-General. 
Van Paffenrode believed Dispontejn guilty and wanted him 
put to the torture to wring a confession from him. But the 
Attorney-General did not agree and was ready to free the 
prisoner if only to spite his rival. Alternately they released 

213 



214 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

and reincarcerated the man. When the Attorney-General de- 
manded his freedom, or that at least he be transferred to the 
Court jail, 3 van Paffenrode promptly raised objections. Dis- 
pontejn continued to languish in the Town Hall jail while 
the matter was referred to the cause-list session. 4 

John, often absent from The Hague on military duties, re- 
tained Johan van der Heyden, L.L.D. to press the case; 5 but 
Lissart, examining Dispontejn's books which had been requi- 
sitioned 6 and comparing John's alleged signatures with a 
genuine one, could establish no forgery. He sensed the pos- 
sible cause of the trouble, however, and urged Dispontejn to 
relinquish the company and hand over the military account 
to van der Heyden. This Dispontejn would not do. 7 The un- 
fortunate man's wife, Maria van Hulst, now appeared on the 
scene and requested an order that van der Heyden appear 
before the Commissioners for questioning. 8 When nothing 
came of that she demanded that a copy of the court order to 
imprison her husband be sent to the Attorney-General for 
examination and reconsideration. 9 

Dispontejn, becoming more and more uneasy as his prison 
days lengthened into months, decided to do something about 
his defense himself. He asked permission to bring witnesses 
to testify in his favor. He requested that Deborah van Egrnont 
be subpoenaed and brought for a hearing. The court agreed. 10 

Deborah was staying with her brother-in-law, Peter van 
Cortenhoven, who lived on the leafy old Spui Allee near the 
Palace. But her Hague visit was proving very disappointing. 
She had had a hundred gay projects in mind for her reunion 
with Major Scott, but had hardly seen him since arrival. 

He had called once, as he had promised, but his visit was 
exasperatingly formal. He had discussed the political situa- 
tion with her brother-in-law and only once talked with her. 
He had wanted to meet a certain state deputy of Middelburg, 
from Walcheren Island, a man of ' 'great understanding and 
influence/' said John. 

"Do you think you could arrange this for me?" he asked 



DISPONTEJN GOES TO JAIL j- 215 

her, turning on the charm. "His nephew, a lawyer named 
Dakers, lives in this neighborhood, perhaps you may know 
him and through him reach the deputy/' John promised her 
a present for her pains. "For/' he added, "if we can bring this 
man over to our side, we shall be doing very well/' 11 

Deborah did not know what he meant, nor have any notion 
of the struggle de Witt was having with the pro-Orange 
Walcheren politicos. But she was glad to have something to 
do for John and did her best to please him. She met Dakers 
and arranged with him to bring his uncle to a well-known 
tavern, The Old Docke, where the rendezvous was to take 
place. 

Then gleefully she ran to Scott's lodgings at the Sign of the 
Golden Boat to bring him the good news. 

He was at work on his maps when she arrived, but began 
rolling them up and putting them away when she entered 
the room. 

"Isn't that the map of the river of London?" 12 she asked. 
All maps looked alike to her. He smiled. "Surely," he an- 
swered teasingly, "that's the map of the river of London. I'm 
making it for my brother de Witt; I'm seeing a great deal 
of him now; we do a lot of business together." 13 

Deborah flitted about the room looking inquisitively at 
everything, trying to make out what was written on the 
envelopes on his table. But she could not read and her 
curiosity was baffled. 

He took her arm and they went to the cafe together to 
meet the deputy, but she did not understand what the men 
talked about. 

That was practically the last time she ever spoke with John. 
Although she waited eagerly for another visit, he never came. 
He had, it seemed, left The Hague; departed on one of those 
trips that she now chose to regard as highly mysterious and 
suspicious. She heard that he had been seen going into the 
Binnenhof, the Dutch Foreign Office, but she did not dare 
seek him there. She also knew all about Dispontejn being in 



216 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

jail and John's efforts, through van der Heyden, to keep him 
there. She was becoming increasingly indignant over his 
neglect of her, and his treatment of the solicitor struck her as 
infamous. 

Then one day, quite unexpectedly, she espied him going 
into the British Embassy. A crowd was waiting around to see 
the new British Ambassador, Sir William Temple, make his 
first entry to Maesson House, the official residence. Among 
his retinue was John Scott. 

Deborah sprang from the table where she had been stand- 
ing to get a good look at the procession and ran at him, 
trying to detain him from entering, calling him a rogue for 
keeping a good man in jail, and saying he ought to come at 
once and get Dispontejn released. 14 But John gently disen- 
gaged her arm and disappeared into the building. Enraged, 
Deborah rushed to the Town Hall and asked to see Dis- 
pontejn, telling him what had happened. 

"He is not a diplomat, he is not attached to the Embassy/' 
Dispontejn assured her. 

"Then he is just hiding there/' 15 Deborah exclaimed tri- 
umphantly. "You should get a State warrant for his appre- 
hension." 

With energy born of wounded vanity she herself took the 
warrant and went to Maesson House with the intention of 
serving John with it. But the servants knew of no Major 
Scott; there was no one of that name among the Embassy 
attaches. 

"I saw him enter, with my own eyes," she expostulated. 
Convinced he was up to no good, she was more than ready to 
comply with the subpoena to testify in Dispontejn's favor. 

And before the Public Notary, Pieter van Swieten, on June 
23rd, 1672, she told all she knew about Akers receiving the 
money, altering the dates on the receipts, and Scott's efforts 
to put the blame of its loss upon Dispontejn. 16 She also told 
how, shortly before Scott was made colonel, he tried to induce 
a certain notary, Johan van der Pijill, to make a detrimental 



DISPONTEJN GOES TO JAIL f 217 

statement concerning Dispontejn, to throw as much suspicion 
as possible upon the solicitor. 17 And how he had even offered 
her inducements to accuse Dispontejn, only she had refused 
because she knew it was not true. 

She included further accusations against Akers, quoting 
some of Scott's men. 18 So William Cowley, cadet, was called 
and acknowledged that Scott, one day at Wesel, had tried to 
persuade him to give false evidence against Dispontejn, and 
that he and Scott had had angry words over this. 19 Cowley 
later recanted some of his testimony concerning the where- 
abouts of Akers at the time the army accounts were made up. 20 

From the combined statements of men and officers, Akers' 
dishonesty was established and it looks as though Scott, to 
protect a fellow Englishman, was determined to make Dis- 
pontejn bear the blame. 

The Hague Aldermen acquitted the prisoner and ordered 
his release. Van Paffcnrode made one final effort to keep him 
in prison, appealing to the Court of Holland, but the Court 
Committee upheld the Aldermen's judgment. The Bailiff 
himself was removed from office for political reasons. 

And on February 10th, 1673, exactly one month after 
Deborah married Sergeant Nederway, Dispontejn was a free 
man. 

The whole affair was the kind that could easily have hap- 
pened among foreigners serving in any European army, and 
it was swallowed up, anyway, in much more explosive na- 
tional events. 

There would have been little point in recounting it but 
that it returned to plague John in later years; and shows, 
moreover, what mountains were made from molehills. 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

1. Not. Arch. Hague Mun., protocol of Notary Ennis, No. 522. 

2. Ibid., 523. 

3. Arch. Hof v. Roll: Criminal Docs., No. 5291, Dec. 26th, 1671. 

4. Ibid., Sentences: No. 788, Jan. 15, 1672. 



218 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

5. Ibid., Verbals: No. 1354, Feb. 3, 1672. 

6. Ibid., Petitions: No. 4565. 

7. Ibid., Verbals: No. 1354. 

8. Ibid., Petitions: No. 3026, Feb., 1672. 

9. Ibid. f April, 1672. 

10. Ibid., June, 1672. 

11. Rawl/MSS., A 175, f 18. 

12. Ibid., f 19. 

13. Ibid. 

14. Ibid., I 24. 

15. Ibid. 

16. Not. Arch. Hague Mun. f protocol Pieter van Swieten, inventory 
No. 392, f 323. 

17. Ibid., 325. 

18. Ibid., f 326. 

19. Ibid., ff 337, r, v. 

20. Ibid., ff 34042. 



CHAPTER XXIX 



JOHN IN THE THIRD DUTCH WAR 



"Is it possible that the descendants of a nation which laid 
the foundations of our freedom, so feebly defend what 
their forefathers obtained with so much glory?" 

-De Groot, Pensionary of Rotterdam. 1672. 
Hist, of the People of Netherland. Petrus J. 
Blok, p. 369. 



BUT WHAT HAD HAPPENED to John and Akers during Dis- 
pontejn's trial? International events had swept them off the 
scene. The dreaded French invasion erupted, and England, 
shackled to France by treaty, declared war on Holland in 
March 1672, to the disgust of the English people who bitterly 
resented fighting with Catholic France against the Protestant 
Dutch Republic. 

Charles II issued a proclamation calling home all British 
subjects serving with the United Provinces, 1 but some ignored 
the royal command, choosing to keep their jobs and fight 
against their own country John Scott was not one of these. 2 
He received a personal summons from England 3 and immedi- 
ately relinquished his post, although he lingered a short time 
on the Continent and visited the Dutch Ambassador in 
neutral Brussels. 4 

Dutch military files refer to Colonel Scott's "desertion," 5 
but also to his statement that, as an English subject he could 
not, once hostilities broke out, remain in the service of the 
States-General. For the record the Assembly voted a formal 
Resolution requesting the Road van Stoat to proceed against 

219 



220 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

him for deserting, 7 but the resolution was never carried out, 
and shortly thereafter John was honorably discharged from 
the Dutch army. 8 It is highly probable that the temporary 
charge of desertion masked a diplomatic move on the part of 
some influential Hollanders who were desperately anxious for 
England's neutrality and who were counting on Scott to 
convey their last-minute peace proposals. 

A letter by a well-known German secret agent in London, 
addressed to his opposite number in Spire (and intercepted 
before it reached its destination), reads as follows: 

"London June 1672 . . . Yesterday I saw unexpectedly in 
the Park, Colonel John Scott, recently in the service of the 
United Provinces; of whom some say he quit Holland, and 
others that he is expressly sent hither by some Dutch lords 
(who desire peace with the English) to make propositions 
for that purpose. He was yesterday conducted by Sir Joseph 
Williamson to My Lord Arlington's house where he stayed a 
long while, which makes the latter the more credible." 9 

Whether or not the Dutch did entrust him with such a 
mission, they were certainly sorry to see him leave Holland. 
When John bade farewell to Van Beverningh and to the 
Wesel state deputy (as he wrote Williamson later), "the 
deputy spoke respectfully of His Majesty (Charles II) only 
in discouraging me from going. He told me that they were 
confident the King would meet great troubles. I told them 
that induced me the more to go, being resolved to run the 
utmost hazards for my own Prince. Van Beverningh intimated 
to me what unkindnesses the Duke of York had done both to 
me and to himself and also to the Prince (of Orange). I only 
replied that that was no excuse for my allegiance and that 
I did not question to convince His Highness he was mis- 
informed; and that in point of love to His Majesty's person 
I would vie with His Highness himself." 10 

John does not seem to have wavered for a moment about 
giving up his good job. Writing Williamson from Ghent, in 
May 1672, Gelson (one of Arlington's agents), reported: 



JOHN IN THE THIRD DUTCH WAR f 221 

"Nothing can tempt Colonel Scott from love and loyalty to 
King and country. Necessity and some ill offices made him 
take service with the Dutch which hath been much greater in 
all respects than he could expect. Yet when it comes too near 
of the service to the one, it must be the service of the other, 
and of that which he loves above all things he chooses; to 
leave a certain noble employment to throw himself upon the 
country and goodness of his Prince; and is now writing his 
farewell to the States-General. Please to give me directions 
what I may say unto him. I think him a person very fit and 
willing to serve His Majesty." 11 

For once John's sacrifice of position for principle was 
appreciated and his loyalty recognized. A note in Sir Joseph 
Williamson's journal indicated the nature of the job: "Major 
Scott taken for Intelligence." 12 

John had already given ample proof of his ability to make 
a sound report, and it became a British Foreign Office tradi- 
tion to employ writers of repute as agents abroad. Walsing- 
ham began this system under Queen Elizabeth, Sir Walter 
Raleigh contributed his quota of "special information," 
Daniel Defoe once served this way and, in modern times, 
Somerset Maugham did a stint. So John joined a goodly com- 
pany when he departed for his field of operations in neutral 
Flanders (today's Belgium), at that moment a Spanish posses- 
sion. Arlington placed him in Bruges but his reporter's in- 
stinct took him all over the country: his dispatches are headed 
Ostend, St. Omer, Nieuport, and Brussels; his recent contacts 
with well-known Dutchmen favored his quest for news, and 
it was amazing how many oE them still talked frankly with 
him. 

Typical of the man was his serious preparation for the 
assignment. "To inform my mind for His Majesty's service," 13 
as he wrote, he immediately spent two months inspecting the 
Dutch coastline and all the ports and harbors of North 
Holland, Zeeland, Friezland and Groeningen. When James 



222 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

Vernon* visited him, to look over the situation, in late March, 
and again in April and May, John surprised this eminent 
official with his intimate grasp of the situation. Already he 
had a general idea of the Dutch Fleet's strength. Though he 
had not procured a complete list, he knew the number of 
capital ships, their names and commanders and where most 
of them were stationed, together with the revealing item that 
Admiral Van Ghent was counting on holding Texel (the chief 
naval base) with fourteen men-o'-war and twenty fireships. 1 ? 
The Dutch, according to John's estimate, did not question 
their ability to command the sea, though they counted on 
creating a diversion for England by arming Scottish mal- 
contents (anxious to resume trade with Holland); and had 
ordered their West India Fleet to put into Spanish ports, "if 
they can't make it home." 15 

John's knowledge went beyond military and naval intelli- 
gencehe had a nose for related news. From the neutral 
Spaniards he had learned that they intended seizing all Eng- 
lish effects in Spain; and that a certain French Huguenot, 
Du Moulin (once a clerk in Arlington's office), had now 
turned agent for the Dutch, was corresponding with de Witt 
and van Beuningen, tipping off the Dutch Smyrna Fleet as to 
English movements, and boasting that he was worth at least 
forty thousand troops to the States! 16 

John accompanied Vernon to Zeeland, where, since the 
latter spoke no Dutch, John spent half an hour alone with the 
Middelburg Pensioner, chatting about Willoughby in the 
West Indies, and Dutch designs there. 17 They ran into Ever- 
son, Vice- Admiral of the Zeeland Squadron, another of John's 
acquaintances ready to talk at length with him. John also 
took the occasion of visiting Lampsinn, a Caribbean associate, 
now a big merchant busy outfitting Dutch privateers. Alto- 
gether John proved an invaluable guide for Vernon as the 
latter's Relation of events discloses. 18 



Secretary of State under William and Mary. 



JOHN IN THE THIRD DUTCH WAR f 223 

This report was quickly followed by John's own dispatch, 
May 26th, in which he completed the list of ships in the 
Dutch Fleet, with their complement of guns, together with 
the rather ominous news that the confident de Ruyter and his 
admirals were spoiling for a fight, despite the Dutch War 
Council's Resolution to avoid all action if possible. The 
Fleet's exact position, John added, had been six leagues west 
by north of Ostend at nine the previous morning. 19 A prize 
bit of information the English Navy did not heed, to its cost. 

England began this Third Dutch War by an attack on the 
Dutch Smyrna Fleet returning from Constantinople laden 
with riches which Charles II hoped to capture to finance his 
desperate war. But it had been well warned, and instead of 
anchoring off the Isle of Wight (as originally planned) it 
fought so doggedly that only six prize ships were captured 
and the English were badly mauled in the engagement. Had 
not the first of King Louis' promised subsidies six hundred 
thousand pistoles (roughly five hundred and twenty thousand 
pounds) arrived that moment in London, the English King 
could scarcely have put his Navy on a war basis. As it was, his 
hard-working Clerk of the Acts, Samuel Pepys, performed 
miracles to outfit men and ships, with stores practically ex- 
hausted and sailors none too keen to fight. "The Fleet," as 
Prince Rupert put it, "was huddled out!" 

Almost at once the situation became critical. In mid-May 
some Dutch were sighted off Harwich, but the British Fleet 
missed them in the fog and put into Sole Bay to ride at 
anchor. Here, twelve days later, May 28th (June 7th, new 
style), it was caught napping by de Ruyter. 

A furious battle ensued. The Dutch Commander, staking 
everything on this his first encounter with the combined fleets 
of two great powers, had addressed his captains before the 
fight, speaking in rousing terms from the bridge of his flag- 
ship, The Seven Provinces. Then, with a fine southeasterly 
gale behind him, he had fallen upon the unsuspecting Eng- 
lish and French, driving off the latter and concentrating on 



224 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

the great ship that carried England's Lord High Admiral, the 
Duke of York; while Van Brakel, with a smaller vessel, at- 
tacked Lord Sandwich, Vice Admiral on the Royal James. 

The ships were drawn up in fine battle array and thundered 
broadside after broadside across the water; the peaceful 
countryside for miles around reverberated with the deafening 
cannonading guns could be heard all the way to London, 
people said. Frantic crowds of spectators surged along the 
Suffolk coast trying to catch a glimpse of action through the 
mist, watching horror-struck as great vessels with torn sails 
and shattered rigging sank in flames. The wind dropped and 
Dutch fireships closed in on the two flagships while the 
stricken English gallantly sought to fight them off and beat 
back Dutch sailors trying to come aboard. Twice the Duke of 
York was forced to shift his flag as ships beneath him 
foundered; and near the end of the day the Royal James 
exploded with a terrible roar, filling the air with blazing 
wreckage, and catapulting the Admiral into the sea. 

This historic although indecisive battle was the subject of 
John's first military report; and it was a European scoop. 

He returned to London to dictate it personally to James 
Vernon. His arrival was awaited with some impatience judg- 
ing from Williamson's Journal: "Most details, at this period 
unimportant, such as arrivals of ambassadors . . . but the 
following seem worthy of note; May 24th / 31st The Duke of 
Buckingham returned from the fleet; June 3rd/ 10th Major 
Scott arrived last night from Ostend." 20 

He had done an amazingly prompt bit of intelligence work 
here was first-hand news of enemy losses before the English 
even knew their own! John gave lists of Dutch ships sunk and 
of others, towed, shattered, into Flushing and Pasgrecht; he 
had the numbers of the mortally wounded and killed in- 
cluding Admiral van Ghent and van Brakel ("he that broke 
the chain at Chatham"); he told where the ships had set out 
from, who furnished some of them and where they now rode; 
that Ostend claimed it was an "entire victory*' although the 



JOHN IN THE THIRD DUTCH WAR f 225 

action (given in detail) was very confused and variously 
reported. The Dutch, he said, confessed that the English 
fought well and admitted many of their own men had not; 
while few French fought at all.* 21 

Considering that nearly ten days passed before the Ad- 
miralty knew with any certainty the fate of Lord Sandwich, 
John's scoop can be appreciated. It was something that Pepys 
should certainly have read one of his wartime tasks was to 
correlate information. He wrote Williamson begging lor 
frontline news, but either the Secretary ignored him, or there 
was no communication between government departments, 
for Scott's Relation never reached him. A thousand pities, for 
had Pepys read it he would have learned at first-hand some- 
thing of John's identity and qualifications, and the disastrous 
struggle that was nearly to ruin one and destroy the other's 
reputation for centuries might have been averted. 

John stayed in London only briefly, but he had made his 
mark. He dined several times, "very magnificent of habit" 
(as an observer noted) "at the Duke of Buckingham's table 
and was addressed as Major-Cicneral Scott."- 2 Two days later, 
back in Ostend, he was writing Williamson about scurrilous 
Dutch pamphlets proclaiming the "great English defeat." 23 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

1. CSPDom., 1671-12, No. 253. 

2. Archives Statcn-Gencraal. Sec. Res., No. 2322, f 630, r, v. 

3. CSP Dom., 1671-72 (Journal of Sir Joseph Williamson), p. 2. 

4. SP. Holl., No. 2921, f 167 (May, 1672). 

5. Ten Raa, Het St. Leger, p. 283. 

6. Ibid., 491. 

7. Res. of St. Pro of Holl., No. 105, f 74 (June 2nd, 1672). 

8. SPFL, 77/40, f 110. 



* The French received contradictory orders which halted their action. This 
could have been due to a language error on the part of the English com- 
mander. Or might have been the result of the "daily graving jealousy against 
the French," noted by a Dutch intelligence officer. Besth. Mit Vreem. Arch. 
De Groot Nederland. Zeevorlegen, pp. 125-27. RCP Kleine Seria. 



226 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

9. SP Holl., 84/189, f 17. 

10. SPF1., 77/40, ff 110, 111. 

11. Ibid., f 73. 

12. CSP Dom., 1671-72, p. 608 (Journal of Sir Joseph Williamson); SP 
29/319, A. 

13. SP Fl., 77/40, f 201. 

14. Ibid., f 42. 

15. Ibid., f 42 v. 

16. Ibid. 

17. Ibid., f 43 v. 

18. SP 29/319 A (Williamson's Journal); SP Fl., 77/40, ff 42, 43. r, v. 

19. SP FL, 77/40, f 105. 

20. CSP Dom., 1672, p. 683. 

21. SPHoll., 84/189, f 7, r, v. 

22. Rawl. MSS., A 188, f 262. 

23. SP. Fl., 77/40, 110. 



CHAPTER XXX 



THE SECRET DOINGS OF 
JOHN SCOTT 



". . . If it be true which the most approved Philosophers 
have told us and among others Hugo Grotius and Des- 
cartes, that nothing is in the intellect which passes not 
through the door of some Sense, then certainly their In- 
tellects may be most improved and possess the largest 
streak of knowledge whose Senses have traifiqued and been 
entertained with the greatest Variety of Objects. . . ." 
John Scott to Sir Francis Rolle, 1678. 

"No Man's knowledge here can go beyond his experience." 
John Locke, On Human Understanding, 1690. 



AND NOW BEGAN a year of feverish activity. Nothing so clearly 
reveals John's capacity and quality as his dispatches to the 
Secretary of State. Indeed no understanding of his compli- 
cated personality is possible without a reading of these pages 
of troop movements, fleet maneuvers, defense plans and, pre- 
dominantly, political analysis all in his fine skimming artist's 
handwriting, difficult enough for modern eyes to decipher, 
but with hardly a single correction or erasure, although 
obviously he was working under extreme pressure. He speaks 
of taking the mail aboard personally, sometimes, "to prevent 
any miscarriage," or riding post haste on horseback to catch 
the Channel packets. 1 He never spared himself; he mailed 
two reports the same day from Bruges and Nieuport, towns 
some twenty miles apart. 2 

At the very beginning he wrote Arlington of a most daring 

227 



228 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

projectto hire a small boat and go to Walcheren Island, 
right through the Dutch Fleet! "I shall sail between the land 
and the Fleet to view in what condition the shore is for 
defence, by guards or otherwise; from thence to Jorveer to 
Jorgoos and to Philipeen; then back to Bruges." 3 To an old 
Caribbean sailor such a trip presented no difficulty. A few 
days later he had made the excursion and told how he had 
taken "eight of His Majesty's Declarations to as many cap- 
tains, directed them to one Van Putta, a captain from Jorveer 
in Zeeland, a man bold and loving to communicate news/' 4 
Evidently someone after John's own heart and a valuable 
target for English propaganda! 

It was astonishing that John could get into enemy territory 
this way; he may have sailed with a privateer's pass or dis- 
guised. He had a boyish delight in putting on wigs of a 
different cut and color from his own; darkening his eyebrows, 
wearing peasant's clothes. Or possibly he was able to conceal 
from the Zeelanders the fact that he was no longer in the 
Dutch service.* Wartime news travelled slowly to the outer 
islands, and many English officers despite the King's orders, 
were still with their Dutch commands. 

John was always on the go. "These particulars I drew up 
at Antwerp and communicated to the Earl of Arlington," he 
wrote Williamson. "I crossed the country from Blankenburg 
to St Omer, and this morning came from thence afoot and 
was, before 7 o'clock, on the barge for Nieuport, where I 
write." 6 

His incessant travelling did not escape local comment, and 
various interpretations were put on his activities. The English 
Consul in Ostend, Stephen Lynch, reported to London in 
August, 1672: "Colonel Scott is at present in this town and, 
as I understand, the Spaniards do not love his company being 



* So complicated was the political machinery among the seven Provinces 
that John's formal discharge from the army did not come through till June 
6, 1672. S.P. Fl. f 77/40, 110. 



THE SECRET DOINGS OF JOHN SCOTT f 229 

sometimes suspective of his so often coming hither this 
much." 6 

Not that he was the only one thus coming and going. The 
English government had several agents on the Continent- 
William Carr, Silas Taylor, William Bulstrode, James Puckle, 
Gelson some of them, like the last two, just picking up odds 
and ends of information with no fixed salary, "only somewhat 
for expenses" as Puckle pleaded; 7 while Carr proved to be 
unreliable, working for both sides, abjectly confessing to 
Arlington later, begging forgiveness and another chance. 8 

Among these agents rivalry was inescapable. They wrote to 
complain of each other; Gelson admitted he was jealous of 
Scott 9 while Scott both to Williamson and to his other Lon- 
don correspondent, Sir John Bankes, the East India merchant 
prince, slighted Gelson and his "inability to gather very much 
for all his travels. I was in his company two or three times and 
could hear very little news/' 10 

John's professional knowledge of ships and armies put him 
in a class by himself; his former service and friendships gave 
him an entree the others lacked. His dispatches are full of 
"names": "one of my former oHicers" "a man very near the 
Prince'* "the Mayor of so-and-so"; nor did he overlook tips 
from fishermen, privateers, and canal bargemen. But most 
important was his knowledge of Dutch politics he under- 
stood what was going on and knew all about the old rivalry 
between the Regents those merchant-princes who, under 
Jan de Witt, practically ran the country with a broadly de- 
centralized form of governmentand the Princes of Orange, 
who would have abolished the cumbersome, complicated gov- 
ernmental machinery and established themselves as hereditary 
monarchs. 

John clipped the highly polemical speeches of dc Witt and 
the young Prince from local news sheets and translated them 
(copies preserved among his papers); 11 eleven volumes of 
Party lampoons (mostly anti-Orange) he collected and for- 
warded to Arlington. 12 



230 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

For more than thirty years the two respective political 
parties had struggled for power* and de Witt considered this 
internal strife far more dangerous than any foreign enemy 
for it threatened to destroy the very structure of the Republic. 

Fear of this was back of his search for peace, as John was 
well aware. De Witt had made his country invincible at sea- 
Holland was a great prosperous counting house protected by 
a Fleet ready to tackle anyone but his army was hopelessly 
outnumbered and he was forced to rely on powerful alliances 
and diplomatic negotiation to stave off war by land. His 
efforts had the support of all the wealthy cultivated citizens 
of the Seven Provinces, interested mainly in commerce and 
the arts. But the country had its malcontents: soldier 
squireens eager for war's opportunities; fanatical Calvinists; 
all the masses, envious of the commercial aristocracy and 
ever-ready to swarm out of their slums to support a Prince 
whose regal paraphernalia pleased them far more than the 
heavy pomp of stiff-necked merchant-Regents. 

De Witt had had to appoint Orange Captain-General of the 
national forces although the young man had little military 
experience and no luck. After the Dutch made such a brilliant 
showing against the combined British and French fleets, their 
army crumpled before French soldiers at Woerden. John's 
vivid battle report revealed that the Prince did not dare 
publish his losses lest the public be discouraged, and the 
youthful leader had to re-group his men fearing to take 
French-speaking Walloons into his regiments. 13 Dutch morale 



* "There is civil strife in Holland owing to popular tumults fomented by 
the House of Orange . . . July 1653," CSP. Ven., XXIX, 98. 

Stadhouder William II (the young prince's father), had made a surprise 
coup on Amsterdam with troops from other provinces, capturing its civilian 
head and de Witt's father, the Mayor of Dort, and holding them in Love- 
stein prison. It was to prevent a repetition of such tactics that Jan de Witt, 
and his so-called Lovestein party, abolished the title of Stadhouder, and de- 
creed that no one person should hold supreme military and civil power. 
Political administration of the country he kept in his own hands, excluding 
from office the young Prince who, in revenge, began inciting the populace 
against him. De Witt, Mdmoires, pp. 250-53. 



THE SECRET DOINGS OF JOHN SCOTT f 231 

was sinking together with the national credit; there was a 
run on the Amsterdam bank, government securities dropped: 
"The greatest securities Walcheren has now are the eight 
ships that lie at anchor in the Veer Gate/' wrote John. 

French troops overran several Dutch provinces, and Catho- 
lics in these occupied territories occasionally assisted the 
enemy. The untraditional severity with which the Prince 
dealt with them "has made them his implacable enemies," 
wrote John. 14 

Many of John's Zeeland informants were, obviously, 
staunchly republican de Witt partisans, and, as he himself 
recognized, "they endeavor to traduce all the Prince's actions 
and render everything he does suspect." iri John's own report- 
ing was impartial for he went on to describe these citizens' 
somewhat unpatriotic efforts to get their money out of the 
country "by bills of exchange and vessels that trade with the 
Spanish Netherlands." 16 These were the men who groaned 
under wartime taxes, "trying to suggest the necessity of 
coming to terms with the French." The alternative, they 
grumbled, looked like "self-destruction" which they feared 
would end by bringing the Prince of Orange to sovereign 
power, "something his family has always aspired and could 
not attain." 17 

Once again John pvit his finger on the crux of the matter, 
for he realized that the Prince was aiming at making himself 
supreme, and that the Dutch domestic struggle could easily 
become the old one of popular rule versus "absolutism that 
lion let loose," as de Witt called it. The wise old statesman 
was a sturdy believer in the sovereign power of the people and 
of the cities, and was utterly opposed to a would-be monarch 
making and enforcing law alone. 

Now this was the same issue on a grander scale that had 
fired John's ardor in New England, and had led to the de- 
cision that had cost him so dear. His deep admiration for 
de Witt indicated how very firmly his convictions were 
rooted, but in this case it was not merely political preference 



232 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

which prompted his devotion for the Grand Pensioner. John's 
dispatches clearly show that he considered de Witt's policy 
much more advantageous to England. And he wrote to 
Arlington and Williamson quite frankly of his own efforts 
to further it. "I dined last night at Bruges with some Middel- 
burg Senators (Zeelanders) and had a deal of discourse with 
them when I drank them to a mellow and good talking 
Strain." 18 

After listening to their laments on wartime's restrictions 
and implications of urging peace with France (leaving Eng- 
land in the lurch, as John realized), he pointed out that 
France was far the greater menace to them, and reminded his 
listeners that for twenty years the French had blocked their 
trade in the Caribbean and with Virginia; that the growing 
naval power of France tied up Dutch warships, excluding 
them from exploiting one of the richest most profitable areas. 
Here John was speaking from wide personal knowledge and 
as the convinced mercantilist his writings show him to be. 
His political sense was sharpening as he plunged more and 
more into politics and it is easy to understand his association 
with John Locke. "Their [the French] injury is great to 
merchants, greater to the States, and insupportable to the 
traders and husbandmen of Walcheren and Zeeland," he went 
on. "French troops are now threatening Berg-op-Zoom," 19 and 
if that fortress fell, warned John, the outer islands would be 
captured and not only would the inhabitants "lose their 
liberty and freedom of conscience" but be in no position to 
seek good terms with England. (Italics added.) 

"They (the Zeelanders) timing their business well, might 
put themselves into a better condition of freedom . . . than 
ever they were in since they were a Republic . . . that this 
might more easily be brought about because their Province 
had never disobliged His Majesty [Charles II]." 

In this long dispatch John added that he had assured the 
Senators he was speaking only for himself, though he was 



THE SECRET DOINGS OF JOHN SCOTT f 233 

"confident he might do them a service as well. They date our 
ruin about a year or two after their own/' he continues, "but 
I soon put them out of that humor. I left them . . . inclined 
to be protected by England, but remaining entire [faithful] 
to their own government." 20 

Several dispatches return to the delicate political possi- 
bility of inducing this practically autonomous Province to 
make a separate peace. "There are in Zeeland many hundreds 
of people that wish England well and His Majesty sovereign 
of the place, if they knew how they could only, with safety, 
bring it about. A Middelburg man, entrusted with His High- 
ness' most secret designs in that and other towns of their 
Province, told me a few days ago, with tears in his eyes, that 
one misfortune more would ruin the Prince and his party, 
and did wish 8000 English well landed on Walcheren." 21 

This Dutch prediction that the Prince was approaching 
ruin, was, however, wildly inaccurate. William of Orange, a 
thin asthmatic stripling with hunched shoulders and hollow, 
pockmarked cheeks, bore in his frail body one of the most 
valiant spirits that ever breathed, and a strain of political 
shrewdness which amounted to genius. Nothing could shake 
his phlegmatic determination or the courageous tenacity with 
which he faced almost insuperable disaster. 

In June, 1672, King Louis had begun a massive offensive 
with his customary spectacular luck in surmounting obstacles. 
A certain little-known ford over a branch of the Rhine was 
exceptionally low that dry season and while French cavalry 
under the great Prince Cond held back the current, one 
hundred and twenty thousand French soldiers poured across, 
marching on Amsterdam to threaten the whole country with 
extinction. It was at this moment that the indomitable young 
Dutch leader stoically declared: "We can die in the last dyke." 

And opened the sluices. Cold brackish water rolled over 
the rich countryside. Opulent mansions and lovely gardens 
vanished, crops and fat flocks were engulfed, but Holland was 



234 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

saved. Amsterdam stood above the waterline, a grim fortress 
surrounded by gunboats, and the besieging armies had to stop. 

Orange sued for an armistice, however, and when this was 
refused his undaunted insistence on continuing the fight 
steeled the nation to heroic resistance. The precarious mili- 
tary situation brought to a head the long-smouldering do- 
mestic revolution which John had described. De Witt and 
his government resigned, and the Prince was proclaimed 
Stadthouder, amid the frantic rejoicing of his followers and 
certain "bloody seditious uprisings and magistrates threatened 
with death" when they hesitated to confirm him. 22 

Political passions ran fever-high, inflamed by the coun- 
try's desperate plight. Wildest anti-Republican rumors fanned 
the mob to violence. Admiral Cornelius de Witt was im- 
prisoned on a trumped-up charge of trying to poison the 
Prince and was cruelly tortured. While Jan was visiting his 
brother in prison, infuriated mobs burst in, dragged both 
men into the street, tore them limb from limb and gibbeted 
the remains. It was one of the most brutal political murders 
in history. 

A rumor, treasured by Pepys, and given wide credence in 
England, had it that John Scott was hanged in effigy in 1672.* 
It is quite possible that at the time of the de Witt lynching 
John's effigy did suffer similar outrage. He was known to be 
Jan de Witt's friend, and, in the estimation of the Orange 
party, was identified, as far as any foreigner could affect 
national policy, with de Witt's "peace party." In numerous 
Dutch towns there were scenes of indescribable ferocity. 

The mob challenged a certain Sir Michael Livesey (one of 
the regicides hiding in Holland under an assumed name), and 
cut him to pieces for much less reason than it might have felt 
against John at this moment of savage panic. (Appendix I.) 



"It seems he swindled 7000 from the States-General and was hanged in 
effigy in Rotterdam," says the English Dictionary of National Biography, par- 
rotting a typical distortion of the Dispontejn case and even citing erroneously 
its dubious sources. DNB, John Scott, XVII, 979-80. 



THE SECRET DOINGS OF JOHN SCOTT f 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

1. SP. Fl., 77/40, ff 116, 127, 225. 

2. Ibid., ff 303, 306. 

3. Ibid., f 194. 

4. Ibid., f 202. 

5. Ibid., 77/41, 117. 

6. /fcid.,77/40, f 281. 

7. CSF. Dom., 1672-73, No. 458. 

8. SP. Holl., 84/191-2, ff 277, 278. 

9. SP. FL, 77/40, f 240. 

10. Ibid., f 127. 

11. Rawl. MSS., A 175, ff 188, 191; Ibid. t A 176, ff 62, 100, 101, 110. 

12. SP. FL, 77/41, f 53. 

13. Ibid. t i 63. 

14. Ibid., f 52. 

15. Ibid. f 87. 

16. Ibid. 

17. Ibid. 

18. Ibid., 77/40, 201. 

19. Ibid. 

20. Ibid. 

21. Ibid., 77/41, 87 v. 

22. Ibid., 77/40, 108. 



CHAPTER XXXI 



BRITISH AGENT 



"What I have done I have done for the present age and 
for posterity, who whatsoever envy or ignorance may say 
now, will have occasion to commend it because they will 
in time find by their own experience, that I have per- 
formed the work with justice and honesty, having sepa- 
rated truth from falsehood, things real from things ficti- 
tious or imaginary, as he only can that writes not barely, 
from hearsay, but hath seen the greatest part of what he 
is to treat of." 

John Scott, Preface. 



IF JOHN HEARD ANY RUMORS concerning himself he did not 
record them; nor did they deter him from pursuing a course 
that went far beyond the office of mere agent. 

Dutch civil strife did not cease with the Prince's seizure of 
power and John pleaded at home more urgently that England 
exploit this rift in the United Provinces, split off Zeeland and 
bring it over to the English side. 

"In all parts of the Dutch territories great disorders/' he 
reported; "the commonality" (as he termed the Prince's lowly 
supporters), "now lead in Holland and Zeeland, God knows"; 
and such was their attitude that all wealthy patricians, ir- 
respective of political affiliation, were ready to forfeit thirty 
per cent of their estates, "to be well out of Zeeland and its 
present government." 1 He furnished gruesome details of the 



* A strong pro-F.nglish sentiment had existed in this Province ever since 
the reign of Elizabeth I, when the Zeelanders had formally requested the 
English queen to take them under her jurisdiction. 

236 



BRITISH AGENT f 237 

mutilated de Witts; told of Rotterdam magistrates narrowly 
escaping the same fate; of young de Witt, beaten and abused 
by the crowd for wearing mourning "for a rich traitor" while 
no onlooker dared say a word; and of the "mutinous, un- 
settled, disturbed condition of the common people, neither 
pleased with nor without the Prince/* 2 

In two dispatches John deplored his lack of a code, for he 
was bursting with "things I dare not write." Then "the people 
are still very proud, strangely elevated with hopes of what 
they will do next summer, but their game at home is not so 
secure as they imagine," and he hints at "strange alterations' 1 
and tells of rumors that the enemy might continue fighting 
France but make peace with England. Many Dutch troops in 
Middelburg were kept there more on account of "the rabble," 
he revealed, than for defense; and once again he urged Wil- 
liamson to take advantage of this crisis, naming points for a 
possible English invasion which could be effected "even with- 
out big ships." 3 

His political counsels, however, did not interrupt his flow 
of routine military intelligence. He sounded and measured 
the extent of the "drowned country" and sent details con- 
cerning movements in the several armies he was watching. 
Besides the Dutch, there were the French and their assorted 
German allies; the few English troops under the Duke of 
Monmouth, as well as the neutral Spanish forces commanded 
by the Count of Monterey, one of whose "greatest confidants" 
dined with John and imparted the startling fact that Spain 
could not possibly continue long at peace with France, an 
important tip John passed on to Arlington with the modest 
suggestion that His Lordship would be best able to judge its 
worth! 

From one of his "stringmen" in Middelburg, John learned 
that the Zeeland States had felt compelled to pass a Resolution 
declaring it treasonable for any single Province to make peace 
overtures to either France or England. Nevertheless certain 
persons continued to put out "feelers" and one of them 



238 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

wanted to know if John had a commission to "treat" with 
them. If so, he was willing to meet Scott and discuss details. 
Two of the men involved, John assured Arlington, "through 
the Prince's influence have overall direction of the colonies 
and are above temptation." Of the others, he was not so sure. 
However, he thought he might be "creating His Majesty's 
interest" in listening to them. "They have trusted me this 
far because they know if nothing comes of it I shall not betray 
them." 4 

It was not unusual, at this period, and even later, for 
private individuals to undertake such missions; they provided 
opportunities for a noncommital exchange of views without 
loss of face if they came to nothing. 

John was right in saying the Dutch trusted him (to this 
very day his reputation is ace-high in the Netherlands). But 
he scrupulously reported all such overtures, writing to the 
Secretary of State personally, rather than to Williamson; as 
in October 1672, when he told Arlington of a letter he had 
received from the Commander of the Dutch troops at Cad- 
zunt, requesting a meeting in a Spanish sconce (blockhouse) 
near St. Donai. 

The messenger bringing the letter first fed John news of 
prime value: that the Prince intended putting his fleet into 
winter quarters (places mentioned); that Cadzunt was ade- 
quately defended and could always get reinforcements from 
adjoining garrisons; that Spanish troops would be available 
for Walcheren (a scoop!) though the Dutch did not want 
their help except as a last resource; and that if the English 
attempted a landing, the Dutch possessed "very ingenious 
means" and gear for blocking it (details given). 

Then he came to the point of his visit. The messenger 
suggested that John go over to the Dutch! He urged him to 
work for people "who loved and trusted him rather than for 
those who undervalued him," for even "to perish," among 
his admirers was better than to live "sneakingly" (as the 
messenger put it), among men who failed to appreciate him. 



BRITISH AGENT f 239 

(His undercover role evidently irked John a little.) This was 
clearly what the Cadzunt Commander had in mind. 5 

John answered him frankly that as long as war continued 
such a course was unthinkable; that he was "resolved to have 
no such complications." "How can a man do anything against 
his own country?" he demanded indignantly of Arlington in 
a second dispatch, a propos a similar incident. To the mes- 
senger he refused all exchange of information as to the posi- 
tion of the English fleet, or its invasion plans. But he repeated 
his conviction that Zeeland should seek separate terms and 
put itself under England's protection, saying he himself 
"would be glad to be instrumental in such an affair." 7 Indeed, 
so convinced was he that this was England's most propitious 
moment to negotiate, that twice he wrote Arlington request- 
ing that "some ingenious person" be sent over to arrange the 
surrender.* 

"I have no greater ambition in the world than of being an 
instrument to dispose the States to give His Majesty all 
reasonable satisfaction. " 8 



* The French, too, were considering a similar strategy, as is shown by a 
memorandum among French archives, by a Mathurin Pclicot (Colbert's agent) 
who outlines the possibilities of /eeland's surrender. "Practically all the 
magistrates of certain Dutch towns are of the de Witt faction and enemies 
of the Prince of Orange. It would be easy to win them over and make them 
submit . . . with a foot in the country the rest is assured." Fr. Mar. Docs.. 
B-4, V, f 56. 

f In this, and in another long dispatch to Arlington, John discusses world 
affairs and analyzes Dutch party politics, with the people torn between loyalty 
to their Prince and fear lest his prolonged war lead to domination by Catholic 
France. Fundamentally, John points out, it all boils down to "Who Should 
Govern"; but he sees in the Prince's ascendency, parallels with Cromwell's 
trend to dictatorship, against the will of the Dutch people, "rivclted in their 
desire for a Commonwealth." 

In somewhat the same rather lofty tone of political philosophy is John's 
essay: A King Ought to be Instructed to Rule Well famong his piivate papers 
in the Public Record Office, SP Dom. Car. II, 29, No. 419, ff 50, 51), in 
which he quotes Plotinus, Cominius and others to support his own theories 
of a monarch's responsibilities toward his subjects. 

It is quite impossible to reconcile the author of these writings with the 
shabby caricature made of him by Abbott, Bryant and other historans who 
have relied chiefly on Pepys' affidavits for their views on Scott. 



240 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

What John did not know, of course, was that the devious 
English King was even then considering shifting sides and 
marrying his niece to the Prince of Orange in order to cement 
a new alliance. Naturally Charles did not want Dutch bar- 
gaining power weakened, as it inevitably would have been, 
had its principal Province quit. 

The Dutch made still another effort to seduce John. He 
reported to Williamson he had received "an odd message out 
of Zeeland menacing me to have a care of England where I 
can expect nothing but unkindness and in time to resolve 
to take my fortune with them." 9 Apparently the proposition 
was not even considered. John mentioned it only casually in 
a long dispatch devoted to other matters. There was more 
pressing business at hand. 

The war had settled down to a winter deadlock. The 
French forces were closely invested by freezing water and 
when they tried to attack The Hague, over the ice, a sudden 
thaw plunged their troops waist deep in heavy mud and did 
more to save the country than all its combined military 
forces. Dutch luck was on the mend. 

And now Dutch privateers went into action redoubling 
their efforts and wrecking wild havoc on allied merchant 
shipping. Darting out of Flushing, their little armed capers 
infested the trade routes and lay off every port in the West of 
England in such numbers that English and French frigates 
could not deal with them; one sailed right into Plymouth 
Sound and before the astonished townsfolk could even reg- 
ister their fury, impudently flashed her colors. 

These were the renowned "Sea Beggars" of Zeeland, ever 
the foremost province in outfitting daring raiders. In Eng- 
land, Samuel Pepys pleaded for a convoy system to end their 
shocking depredations, but merchants were unwilling to 
assemble in port waiting for accompanying warships, and 
with the scanty number at his disposal Pepys could ill protect 
the nation's trade. 



BRITISH AGENT f 241 

From Flanders, John's specialized reports tell of the new 
peril England faced. 

"Zeeland's men of war, bound for the West Indies are not 
fully manned," but "in ten days, at longest, they may be ready 
to sail, the privateers that go with them from Walcheren are 
these: 

The Catzunder, 100 men, 16 guns; 

The Otter, a ketch, 70 men, 8 guns; 

The English ketch, that came from Barbary, 80 men, 10 guns; 

The . . [paper torn] frigate, 100 men, 14 guns; 

The Clock, 60 men, 8 guns; 

The Castle Ardyne, 150 men, 25 guns; 

The Summer, 50 men, 16 guns; 

The Sucher, 50 men, 16 guns; 

The Maria, 100 men, 16 guns; 

... on the 18th here came three Commissioners from a 
Zeeland money-company backing the privateers, to treat with 
some Spaniards and some Bruges and Ostend merchants 
about transporting English and French prize goods in Spanish 
bottoms." 10 

At Bruges John ran into an "intelligent talking" captain 
of a Spanish privateer whom he accompanied to Ostend, to 
learn of the shipbuilding and outfitting on Walcheren Island; 
of ship's carpenters busy in Zeeland, of fat prizes captured 
from the English, and ever more and more movements of 
ships and cargoes. There had always existed a freemasonry 
among privateers and buccaneers, and it must never be for- 
gotten that John, in his youth, had belonged to the Brother- 
hood. This Spaniard told him of a certain De Vrees, of 
Amsterdam, who was sending out seven of his own privateers: 

"They carry blank commissions," wrote John, "they may be 
of the most pernicious consequence to our ships trading to 
the Straits, to Spain and Portugal and to French ports on the 
Great Bay. I thought it my duty to be particular in this, in 
regard to the insupportable damage our nation suffered in the 
time of Cromwell's usurption by those very people who may 



242 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

do us more hurt (we not being at war with them) than if we 
had open war with Spain." 11 

What would Pepys have given to have read these reports 
and been able to give precise instructions and warning to 
English colliers and merchantmen sailing on their gallant 
but foolhardy course? 

"Dutch capers are the flower of their seamen," lamented 
John, "and there are still about 4000 of them abroad/' 12 while 
a "great man in the Zeeland government" boasted to him 
that "these were the men who might bring England to reason 
and force her to Breda a second time to seek peace*. . . . 
The vanity and insolence of the Dutch are almost insupport- 
able!" 13 

There was every reason for the Hollanders' bravado. It 
detracted attention from their own domestic plight; and 
while hitting the Allies in their most vulnerable spot, focused 
attention on allied pressing problems concerning France's 
military predominance. "The Emperor and the whole House 
of Austria are apprehensive of French designs on Maestrich," 
reported John, "and the German princes fear they would be 
beggared if the Rhine trade is stopped." 14 

Dutch courage and statesmanship were paying off. So great 
were the Allies' perplexities over the war's ravages and the 
possible outcome, that, finally by common consent, hostilities 
were suspended, and a Peace Conference, to re-examine all 
claims, was called at Cologne. 

On the eve of his departure to attend it, Sir Joseph Wil- 
liamson, Great Britain's delegate, received from the noted 
diplomat, James Vernon, a significant report: "The States- 
General are ready for peace with France and England all the 
people of Walcheren and Zeeland are saying, "We must be 
English next summer." 15 

John had been plugging this separatist policy for a whole 
year! 



* After the Second Dutch War, unfavorable terms had been imposed on 
the English at Breda, in 1667. 



BRITISH AGENT f 243 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 



1. SP. Fl., 77/40, f 300. 

2. Ibid., 77/41, f 39 v. 

3. Ibid., 77/40, f 302 v. 

4. Ibid., f 225 v. 

5. Ibid., 77/41, 39. 

6. Ibid. 9 t 196v. 

7. Ibid., f 39. 

8. Ibid., 77/41, f 39 v. 

9. Ibid., 77/40, 302. 

10. Ibid., f 225. 

11. Ibid. 

12. Ibid., 77/41, f 110 v. 

13. Ibid., 77/40, f 302 v. 

14. Ibid., 77/41, 31 v. 

15. Ibid., 77/42, 104. 



CHAPTER XXXII 



FRANCE LOSES AN ALLY AND 
JOHN LOSES A JOB 



"On the 6th at midnight I had the answer of a letter I had 
writ to a friend in Flushing . . . and the truth is the 
language of the Gentleman's letter is much like that of 
Rahab the harlot to the men of Jerico when they exam- 
ined her about the two spys." 

John Scott to Lord Arlington, 
SP. FL, 77/42, f 143. 



INTERSPERSED WITH JOHN'S DISPATCHES are the inevitable re- 
quests for money, "without which, no man can do business," 
as he wrote, half humorously, at first. 1 Then, becoming more 
serious, he complained that money was three months in 
arrears. 

There is a single item in the English Consul's accounts of 
forty pounds paid to John Scott, a small enough sum if this 
had to cover travelling expenses, to say nothing of the drink- 
ing to loosen his informants' tongues. (The former English 
Ambassador in Holland, Sir William Temple, had been 
urgently requesting that his own salary be paid, with the 
same negative results.) 

For nearly a year John's zeal and ardor remained un- 
diminished though he seemed to be getting a little wistful 
about his recompense. "I trust His Majesty will be pleased to 
think of something in proportion to what I have frankly 
written. I hope I shall not be forgotten," he suggests to 

244 



FRANCE LOSES AN ALLY AND JOHN LOSES A JOB f 245 

Arlington; and another time dwells on his own exceptional 
qualifications, "no man living knows better the humors of 
the Dutch and the advantages that might be made from 
them; had my advice been taken a good part of Zeeland might 
now well be in His Majesty's hands'"; reminding the Minister 
that he had sacrificed a very good job rather than take an 
oath against his King whom he had always served "with 
justice" at considerable personal risk.* 2 

Arlington's replies are not among the State Papers (nor 
indeed are all John's dispatches ... he refers to several that 
are not in the Flanders collection) but evidently there was 
some criticism of his judgment, for in one dispatch John 
excuses himself volubly for having suggested that the French 
advance would be checked at the Rhine. "But my opinion 
was guided by probabilities and reason," he almost wails, "I 
could not foresee so dry a season ... as it was, I was the 
only man who knew how the French came ovcr."f 3 

Lack of encouragement and promotion set him brooding 
over past injuries. He blamed "the business of America and 
the injustice done me by persons who could not justify their 
ill-service to His Majesty and have for several years made it 
their business to traduce me by all means possible. I shall 
think myself fully recompensed if by some honorable action 
I should remove these false suggestions some ill persons have 
insinuated to His Majesty and His Royal Highness." 4 For 
all his dashing assurance on missions, John was such a passion- 
ate partisan that he craved an enthusiastic response a word 
of praise was sufficient to re-ignite his boundless devotion. 

But from London apparently came no hint of approval; 
and his behaviour reflected his growing depression. He grew 
defiant, began drinking, making scenes and embarrassing the 



* John never did realize one cardinal fact of British Intelligence that an 
agent is neither rewarded nor recognised or at least not until much later. 

f The French secret agent, Count de Montbas, told John that it was he, 
Montbas, who revealed the shallow ford where a crossing was possible. 



246 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

English authorities. Stephen Lynch (always suspicious of 
John's influential connections and his free-spending swash- 
buckling ways) wrote Williamson from Ostend: "Colonel 
Scott is looked upon here most strangely having committed 
some insolency in his drink . . . the Governor sent for me 
to know what he was and what he did here. I told him all 
I knew of him was that he was a gentleman that expected 
orders from Whitehall . . . with all desired there be no 
affront put on him/' 5 

A week later Lynch gave full details of the scandalous 
incident. John had gone to an English merchant's house on 
business, but being refused admittance the man was at sup- 
per with his friends- he had stoned the windows, abusing the 
company with ripe oaths. The merchant and his brother pro- 
tested to the magistrate and governor, but John, with drawn 
sword, had gone rampaging up and down the town threaten- 
ing and beating up the inhabitants. Next morning when the 
Consul accompanied him to the city gates, he remembered 
nothing. "So it is but drunken business," Lynch wrote. 6 

The story of John's uproarious behaviour caught up with 
Williamson while he was at Cologne. His Whitehall clerk, 
Robert Yard, wrote him July 4, 1673, "Several complaints 
have been made of Colonel Scott in Flanders, who, it seems, 
does the King all the ill-service his capacity will give him 
leave." 7 

Williamson, knowing his friend's weakness, may not have 
been too concerned. Especially, as though to offset his boister- 
ous conduct, John forwarded him an unusually valuable dis- 
patch, nothing less than details of Dutch preparations to 
suppress any possible Anglo-French invasion. This long docu- 
ment (written with his usual good-humored bonhomie, "as 
one gentleman to another"), is illustrated with an enchanting 
little map, an exact outline of the Scheldt estuary with all the 
sea approaches to Holland and Zeeland! 8 Evidently tossed off 
quickly, from a larger map he retained, its delicate nervous 
strokes show speed in every line (and his dispatch closely 



FRANCE LOSES AN ALLY AND JOHN LOSES A JOB f 247 

followed a previous one and was almost immediately suc- 
ceeded by another), yet it is painted in blue and rose-red with 
faint touches of gold and details of deep green, so that it has 
something of the charm and quality of an illuminated missal. 
At one side is a decorative motif in blue, red, and gold to 
mark the scale, which was 2 English leagues, or 6 miles to 
the inch; "it is twice as large as any draft extant," wrote John 
when he sent the key in a subsequent report. All the neigh- 
boring towns are shown and their church steeples painted red 
(for navigators' easy identification) and, most precious of all, 
there are several marked passages through the shoals with the 
soundings given in fathoms or feet; information about which 
he had collected "from the experience of the most knowing 
pilots and fishermen of these parts'* whom he contacted pre- 
cisely for his purpose. 9 Williamson may well have thought 
that such a treasure more than made up for a few brawls. 

The Cologne Peace Conference dragged on and the Min- 
ister's Journal discloses how very pessimistic he felt over 
England's chances of a speedy settlement. "How peremptorily 
and indeed saucily, the Dutch Ambassadors have demanded 
an ultimatum!" 10 he wrote. They would listen to no sugges- 
tion of a separate peace now; demanded that all their towns 
be restored, and confidently predicted that in five years time 
their country would recapture all its old trade pre-eminence; 
"their incredible pride and insolence ... we are like to lose 
the peace after such condescension on the part of His 
Majesty." 11 

At home the English people were protesting angrily against 
the French, whose military ambitions they blamed for all 
their troubles. The maladie des coalitions was asserting itself, 
to rupture the thin veneer of friendship imposed by Charles' 
secret treaty with Louis. British naval losses had been very 
high and could not quickly be repaired. Pepys was even send- 
ing out merchantmen as warships. 

What galled the men at the Admiralty well aware of the 
current superiority of the English Fleet was that they had 



248 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

not only to show their French ally "the manner and order of 
their fighting at sea" (as a well-known Dutch agent gleefully 
reported to the Hague), but had "to teach him all the secrets 
of their coasts, their sands, their banks, their avenues of ap- 
proach, in fact, the very strength and weaknesses of their 
kingdom." 12 

It was a situation that might bode ill for the future and the 
English King was only too well aware of it. To cap all mis- 
fortunes, while the Ambassadors haggled around the greeia 
table, His Most Christian Majesty, Louis XIV, wishing to 
show the world he could make war without help of allies or 
of his own famous generals, ostentatiously laid siege to 
Maestrich, a key fortress, and took it in a week: June 27, 
1673! All Europe was aghast at this sudden revelation of the 
overriding supremacy of French military might and realized 
anew the menace which a single dominating power Catholic 
at thatpresented. 

Ranks closed. The very alliances which de Witt, before his 
death, had been negotiating, came into being. A coalition 
against France was formed, with the King of Spain and the 
Duke of Lorraine joining the Prince of Orange. When the 
minor German princes (whom Louis believed he had bought) 
broke with him, France stood alone against all Europe. 

England, worn out by hostilities which ruined trade and in 
which de Ruyter threatened to destroy her Fleet, made a 
separate peace with Holland, though without formally aban- 
doning the French alliance. 

For English subjects this war was over. 

And John Scott's assignment with it. 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

1. SP. Fl., 77/40, 201. 

2. Ibid., f 234; Ibid., 77/41, f 53. 

3. /fcirf., 77/42, f 110. 

4. Ibid. 

5. Ibid., 77/41, 102. 



FRANCE LOSES AN ALLY AND JOHN LOSES A JOB f 249 

6. Ibid., f 109. 

7. W. D. Christie, Letters . . . to Sir J. Williamson, I, 85. 

8. SP. FL, 77/42, f 142. 

9. Ibid., 77/41, 97 v. 

10. SP. For., 105/224, 282. 

11. Ibid., 105/226, 71. 

12. Colcnbrander, Besch. mit Vreemde arch., pp. 125-6-7. 



PART THREE 



CHAPTER XXXIII 



A BOURBON AS PATRON 



"I know some are apt to say we have maps and charts of 
these countries already ... to those I answer, my history 
and maps are not calculated for their mean meridian but 
for men who are able to judge, gentlemen who have seen 
the world, the brave merchants, commanders of ships and 
mariners, who . . . are able to put a difference between 
things that differ, things of art and labor and things of 
error and show." 

John Scott, Preface. 



WITH ENGLAND OUT OF THE FIGHT John realized he must look 
further afield for a career, "for I suppose I shall not stay 
here," 1 he wrote Arlington, possibly hoping for a further 
English assignment, which, however, was not immediately 
forthcoming.* "I should have been glad to have done His 
Majesty the best service I could, for I wish the prosperity of 
the Nation with all my heart; and as long as I have anything 
to buy me bread with shall still wait with impatience, till 
necessity compels me to seek my fortune where the provi- 
dence of God shall direct me." 2 

There was nothing for him in Holland, now, for he was too 
well known as a de Witt partisan to be persona grata with the 
Prince of Orange. That grave young ruler had never forgiven 
de Witt for keeping him in humiliating obscurity during his 



* "It is a pity to lose him," Secretary Williamson had said of John, Parl. 
Deb. 1667-1694, VII, 311. But John's repeated suggestions concerning policy 
probably irritated Arlington. 

253 



254 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

youth. Even after the shocking murder of the eminent states- 
man, Orange made no effort to apprehend and punish those 
responsible for the crime. It indicated, only too clearly, how 
he felt about his Republican predecessor. 

France was then the country which rewarded most hand- 
somely those who served her, and John had never relinquished 
a hope that one day he might do so. Now was his opportunity. 
England was still allied with France despite the withdrawal 
of her fighting forces, and here in Flanders were all the 
greatest French marshals at his disposal. He lost no time in 
getting an introduction to Prince de Cond he always be- 
lieved in beginning at the top. A meeting between the two 
men is most flatteringly described by another secret agent, a 
Madame d'Arbey (writing about it later to William III of 
Orange) in 1679: 

"You must absolutely have recalled from France a certain 
Scott who was once infantry colonel with Your Highness* 
troops; he is known to the King of England . . . and is one 
of the most famous engineers there are; he has the plans of all 
the rivers, canals and sluices of the United Provinces; also 
places in the West Indies both Dutch and English, drawn on 
a very large scale by himself with all the ports, harbors, 
entrances, exits. ... He showed them all to the Prince of 
Conde in my presence at the Hienem camp" (Quievrain, one 
of Condi's headquarters). "Prince Cond6 said he had never 
seen such beautiful maps and sent him to Paris to sell them 
to Monsieur Colbert/' 3 

Louis de Bourbon, prince of the blood, and first cousin to 
Louis XIV, had been winning great military victories for 
thirty long years. Now, at the end of his career and wracked 
with gout, he dreamed of retiring to the lovely chateau Man- 
sard had just built him at Chantilly, there to devote himself 
to art and letters, which were his passion. 

A true Cond, he had a streak of fantastic genius and was 
violent, careless, charming. John evidently pleased him and 
kept his friendship till his death. Not only did the prince 



A BOURBON AS PATRON f 255 

recommend him to Colbert, France's First Minister, but 
wrote personally to introduce him. 

"This Englishman, Scott, a man of quality . . . came to 
see me with the object of serving the French King, he being 
desirous to attach himself to His Majesty, rather than to the 
English King, with whom, he says, he is on good terms, al- 
though on bad terms with the Duke of York. 

"He believes he can render very valuable services ... he 
has been in the West Indies and he showed me maps of them, 
the loveliest in the world. As I do not know anything of these 
countries, I will not comment on them. And because he does 
not speak French very well he had some difficulty explaining 
himself, and I in understanding just exactly what he wanted 
to say. I cannot tell what he is capable of, however he struck 
me as a man of extremely good sense. 

"It was lie who had several disputes (combats) with M. de la 
Barre* and came off victorious. 

"I trust he can be as useful to the King as he promises to be. 
I am sending him to you to examine more closely and to see 
what he can do." 4 

Without such backing John would surely never have met, 
or would have spent endless hours in antechambres waiting 
upon, the busiest man in all Europe. 

Jean-Baptiste Colbert was one of the greatest statesmen 
France ever produced. Not only was he Controller-General of 
Finance but he held five other portfolios, including the Navy. 
He was governor of several provinces and responsible for all 
their fortifications. Such overwhelming occupations he ac- 
cepted with joy. It was his incredible energy and love of 
work (plus a very good marriage) that had brought this petty 



* This reference to the French commander who refused to restore St. 
Christopher to England, indicates John's very close knowledge of colonial 
politics. Acrimonious Anglo-French correspondence concerning this disputed 
iittle island continued for nearly two years between de la Barre and Wil- 
loughhy, between the French foreign minister and Arlington, finally culminat- 
ing in Charles TI's appeal to Louis XIV himself. Corr. Pol. Angleterre: Vols. 
88, 89, 91, 92, 93, 94. Quai d'Orsay. 



256 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

tradesman's son to his high eminence as all-powerful First 
Minister to Louis XIV. 

Colbert's personality was harsh and cold, his "savage man- 
ners" in piquant contrast to the suave servility of the Ver- 
sailles Court. But this "man of marble" had a single weakness; 
he wanted at all costs to be accepted as a descendant of the 
ancient Kings of Scotland. He even went to the length of 
arranging the "discovery" of a tombstone at Reims bearing 
the inscription, in half-effaced Gothic characters: "Here lies 
the valiant knight, Richard Colbert called the Scott . . . 
1300." 5 

A harmless enough vanity, typical of his milieu, too, but 
one to which John responded with an actor's pliancy. For it 
is noticeable that in documents of this period John makes 
constant reference to his own Anglo-Scottish ancestry and 
signs himself Lord of Mornamont something he never did 
before or after. Colbert's predeliction may have been the 
reason. 

The great man received John and examined his maps care- 
fully, exclaiming over both the geographer's art as well as the 
detailed knowledge of the Low Countries' strategic areas. He 
had seen nothing so original, nor so up-to-date. In fact John's 
latest drawing of the Bruges fortifications had been rudely 
interrupted when French troops had suddenly overrun the 
Spanish Netherlands, and John, surprised upon the outer 
walls, his sketchbook in hand, had been forthwith ordered 
to leave town within twenty-four hours resulting in a hurried 
departure with consequent loss of valuable copperplates of 
other maps (including the one he dedicated to Sir William 
Temple), personal belongings, and a "great painting" which 
could have been his own portrait, never, unfortunately, re- 
covered. 



* When Samuel Pepys had all the affidavits concerning Scott copied out in 
fair hand, he sarcastically named the lot "My Mornamont Papers" to mock 
John's pretensions. How surprised he would have been it he had known that 
John, with his self-styled title, was adopting exactly the same attitude towards 
Colbert! 



A BOURBON AS PATRON f 257 

The business of selling Colbert the maps, however, pro- 
ceeded slowly. It seems to have confronted John with a tor- 
menting problem. For there was one map "he held dearer 
than a place might be corrupted for," as an English corre- 
spondent wrote to Secretary Williamson, informing him of 
these Paris transactions. "lie [Scott] says he will not sell a 
whole country [Holland] unless he can make his fortune 
by it." (J 

Though John had no obligations toward the United Prov- 
inces, evidently his deepest feelings were stirred, and he 
seemed beset with scruples. His maps in the hands of France 
Holland's enemy might prove detrimental to Dutch na- 
tional safety. Should he disregard his qualms, make his for- 
tune once and for all? he was reputed to have asked 10,000 
for the collection, ''secured on Hamburg." 7 Apparently his 
better nature won or was it M. Colbert's avarice that tipped 
the balance? The French Minister did not want to pay out- 
right for the treasures, but offered an annual pension for 
them a proposal which instantly aroused John's suspicions. 
Nothing in his professional career had ever given him cause 
to trust princes and ministers; indeed (in his cups), John had 
been known to confess that he suspected every man he knew 1 s 
The idea of surrendering his precious original charts for an 
initial sum of three hundred pistoles was not tempting. What 
if payments ceased after the first year? Any good draughtsman 
could have copied them in that time. 

The negotiations fell through. 

Prince Conde, learning that someone whom he had recom- 
mended had failed to achieve his purpose, interceded in the 
matter and John was presented with "fifteen hundred crowns 
in gold and silver"; roughly some $1800. He was able to 
renew his badly depleted wardrobe and invested in one par- 
ticularly lavish suit, with silver buttons and buckles. 

He finally sold his Dutch maps to an Englishman, a lord 
of the Trade and Plantations Committee, and it looks as if 
he definitely intended to keep them out of Colbert's hands, 



258 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

for when the latter, a year later, asked to see them again, 
John told him they were already sold. Colbert suggested he 
make fresh copies from the rough drafts he had kept, but 
John replied that such an undertaking would require at least 
five or six yearsa polite way, it would seem, of refusing. 9 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

1. SP. FL, 77/41, f 53. 

2. Ibid., i 153. 

3. Japikse, Hoi. R.H. Arch., No. 2650, II, 292, 293. 

4. Me"l. de Colbert, 165 bis. (Letter of Louis Bourbon, Prince of 
Conde" to Colbert, 1673.) 

5. Boulenger, The Seventeenth Cent., p. 323. 

6. SP. FL. 78/138, f 178. 

7. Ibid., f 145. 

8. Morn. MS., I, f 319. 

9. Japikse, Hoi R.H. Arch., No. 2650, II, 293. 



CHAPTER XXXIV 



A CURIOUS EXPERIMENT 



"Princes, Courts and Camps are very improving, but he 
that trades there had need be fraught with wit and Vir- 
tue, or else he may confound both Body and Minde . . ." 
-John Scott, Rawl. MSS., A 175, f 182 v. 



FRANCE REMAINED John's home for several years. 

He had brought over with him one of his most precious 
belongings, a travelling desk especially fitted to carry his 
pencils, fine pens, compasses and special tools to grind colors; 
everything, in fact, needful for making maps. He was lodging 
in Paris in the rue de la Monnaic, and his work brought him 
in contact with a certain M. de la Pointe, draughtsman and 
copyist, and also a Mr. Butterfield, the celebrated mathe- 
matical instrument maker. Both assured him he could get 
good lodgings with John Joyne, an English watchmaker. So 
over to Joyne's John moved his belongings, and thereby 
hangs a tale. 

For two and a half years John was in and out of Joyne's 
house where the impecunious young craftsman-concierge had 
his shop, though his business was almost nonexistent, where 
he kept no apprentice, and whose occasional watch repairing 
was surely not enough to keep him and his family alive. Yet 
he managed to live, by his wits or by other means John never 
knew. Later generations have learned, however, to Scott's 
infinite detriment. 

But Paris did not claim all John's time. (Or was he still 

259 



260 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

acting on orders from Secretary Williamson?) His exceptional 
connections with the French may have tempted the English 
to employ him again as intelligence officer. Whatever the 
reason, he accompanied one of the French armies when it 
went off on the spring campaign of 1674. 

With English troops out of the war, France was forced to 
maintain three large armies in the field; Conde held the 
Dutch and Spaniards in Flanders; Turenne faced the Im- 
perialist forces in Alsace and Lorraine; while Louis reserved* 
for himself a showy offensive in Franche-Comte. 

Here John joined him. "They have invited me to go with 
them to Besancxm and treated me very handsomely," 1 he 
wrote his M.P. friend, Wentworth, in London. He went as 
observer, not commissioned officer, since, as usual, John re- 
fused to take an oath of loyalty to a foreign sovereign. 

King Louis favored a war of sieges, at which he was always 
successful for he took along with him his master of fortifica- 
tions, "Sieur Vauban," of whom it was said: "A town de- 
fended by Vauban is impregnable, a town invested by Vauban 
is taken." 

This famous military engineer had invented an entirely 
new technique trench warfare, and his clever use of cross 
fire to enfilade covered ways and bastions was but one of the 
modern methods about which the English were anxious to 
learn.* 

"I shall tell you more of this when Besancjon is French/' 
John's letter continued. He was in the thick of the melee 
and was wounded, but the campaign was over in six weeks. 

John returned to Paris, and right after his recovery em- 
barked upon an entirely new career. His experiment as 
military engineer and gun manufacturer revealed him as a 
true "virtuoso" in the Renaissance sense, yet fantastic as it 
seemed it was not a haphazard undertaking. He had carefully 



* Among Scott's papers, together with his letter about the siege of Besan- 
on was the plan of the siege of Neuhausel, invested by the Turks, 1663. 



A CURIOUS EXPERIMENT f 261 

prepared the ground in London, taking advantage o a brief 
trip there in 1670 to talk with the French ambassador, who 
not only listened to his plans with interested consideration, 
but secured him a retaining fee of forty pounds. 

Now the moment seemed propitious for action since he 
had just the right connections beginning with the King's 
First Minister. 

Colbert, over the previous twenty years, had encouraged 
France to master all the most renowned specialties of other 
countries the fine weaving of Holland, England's steel mak- 
ing, Sweden's tar production, and so on, and to this end 
subsidized factories, granted monopolies to likely entre- 
preneurs, and ordered his ambassadors abroad to recruit 
skilled foreign craftsmen. 

About 1665 he turned his attention to the Navy, which 
Louis was neglecting. Two years fighting with the British 
Fleet (1672-1674) had revealed the extent of France's mari- 
time deficiencies. There was nothing wrong with the human 
material only recently a crabbed old sea-dog of sixty-six, 
named Duqucsne, had twice soundly beaten the famous De 
Ruyter off the coasts of Spanish Sicily. 

But the French lacked fire-power: Colbert wanted better 
cannon. 

With audacious vision the Minister embarked on the stu- 
pendous task of creating a national industry. He set up royal 
foundries at Nevers (and elsewhere), established a new 
ordnance company under the noted Swedish technician Abra- 
ham Besch, and entrusted the entire undertakings to his 
homme de confiance, Samuel D'AlIiez de la Tour, a Gascon 
financier whom he made Purveyor to the Navy and whose 
outstanding activity and capacity matched his master's, as he 
organized, purchased, travelled, kept in motion all the rami- 
fications of this great new state enterprise. 

Installed at Nevers with French technicians were groups of 
Swedes and Spaniards, busily experimenting with different 
production methods. Artillery had developed over the years 



262 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

without much scientific application, there was every variety 
of calibre, and Vauban was always complaining of the lack 
of good guns. "They break like glass/' he roared. 2 So far 
nothing had been successful; there were so many unwarranted 
explosions that, at one moment, French naval officers, in 
charge of local operations, had unanimously refused to be 
present at gunnery tests. 3 

Into this highly competitive field, John, as promoter and 
gun manufacturer, had the good luck to appear just when 
Colbert had promulgated his first great Reglement concern- 
ing naval expansion. And although John had no qualifica- 
tions other than a single formula and some willing colleagues, 
his personality was so engaging, and he talked so convincingly 
that he not only gained the interest of all who listened, but 
won the support of the very highest officials in the land. 

Colbert, remembering, perhaps, his brother's letter from 
London about Scott's guns, turned our enterprising young 
man over to his eldest son, the Marquis cle Seigneley, who, 
since 1669 when he was just eighteen had been State Secre- 
tary for the Navy. 

Seigneley was as handsome and pleasure-loving as his father 
was harsh and cold, but the lad's qualities were outstanding, 
and he soon acquired the parental capacity for hard work. 
Under his ministry French squadrons became the foremost in 
Europe. 

Negotiating with him was no easy matter however. By 
temperament violent and overbearing, this tradesman's grand- 
son was so lofty that he even (as Voltaire said), "managed to 
ishow civilities haughtily." 

Arrogance was something John could also assume when he 
wished, especially towards the French, as Du Tertre had al- 
ready noted. The pair were well-matched. 

The Secretary listened attentively as John described "the 
greatest curiosity of polished cast-iron guns that for beauty 
and service would equal the standard brass cannon/' 4 and 
granted him permission to proceed. With this initial en- 



A CURIOUS EXPERIMENT f 263 

couragement John began the necessary formalities for per- 
mits and patents with the Navy's Treasurer-General, M. de 
Plissary, hoping (as he wrote the latter's secretary) that 
Seigneley would remember to send him the fifty louis d'or 
he had promised. "When I dined with the Treasurer-General 
two days ago he said nothing about it. I shall not forbear to 
carry out what I have promised in hopes that they (the 
Ministry) will do the same on their side." r> For despite his 
astuteness, John was strangely gullible. If a proposition inter- 
ested him, he went ahead with dedicated energy, no matter 
how often he was let down. 

For the technical side of the venture he engaged two men 
whom he had known in Hollanda Captain Manning, and 
Edward Sherwin, the English gun manufacturer who had 
worked with Prince Rupert, when the latter's experimental 
quick-firing gun was being tested at the English Royal Society. 

John now rented a large room in the rue des Fosses at St. 
Sulpice, both to conduct his affairs, and to display his maps. 
John Joyne's lodgings lacked elegance and the watchmaker 
was proving a sodden drunk and an inquisitive bore. He had 
his uses, however; he knew Paris well and spoke iluent 
French, something in which John was still not proficient 
though a dictionary was seldom out of his hands. 

Preliminary negotiations were carried on at M. de Pelis- 
sary's house, or in the rue des Marais, at that of Mademoiselle 
des Moulins one of the amazing feminine business types the 
century was beginning to produce and who missed no detail. 
Here the Navy-Treasurer on several occasions brought along 
Monsieur Le Goux, from the Nevers foundry, a man of ex- 
perience who really knew gun-casting. When consulted about 
the "reasonableness of Scott's proposals" he seemed somewhat 
doubtful of the method's success. 

But John swept all objections aside. Pelissary was finally 
convinced, and signed a document (duly witnessed by Made- 
moiselle des Moulins and M. de la Pirogerie, officer and 
technical interpreter) giving full consent to the undertaking 



264 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

and the permission to import Englishmen to work on it. This 
was the first hurdle. 

The strictest laws prohibited skilled artisans from leaving 
England. Sherwin, trying to get out of the country, ran into 
great difficulties, arriving at last, incognito, at the little port 
of St. Valleris, where John met him. Some of his men were 
arrested at Dover; one, on the King's orders, stopped in 
London. John, hastening to assure his patrons that all would 
be well, wrote Mademoiselle des Moulins that his cousin, the 
Earl of Winchelsea, would provide a pleasure yacht ("at my 
orders") to bring everyone over.* 6 

Four or five English workmen finally reached France under 
false port declarations: one came as a pastrycook, another as 
a milliner, two declared they were engravers; there was Har- 
rison, an office clerk, and one signed "unemployed." In Paris 
John engaged Butterfield,f the mathematical instrument 
maker, whose new-type compass was already used by the Navy. 

It was a modest beginning, though John spoke of more 
coming later, and enthusiasm made up for lack of numbers. 
They all had the highest hopes; judging from the agreements 
they signed with John, and with one another, they must have 
imagined they were going to make millions. John was equally 
elated; his generosity boundless. In high-flown legal docu- 
ments (all attested by the King's own notary, Noel Duparc) 
he made the handsomest offers to Sherwin and Manning and 



* In 1680 when the Navy Department was being investigated for misuse 
of the King's ships, Winchelsea naturally denied this. He also wrote Pepys 
he knew nothing of his own relationship with Scott. But John had a profes- 
sional knowledge of his family tree. "Cousin" was perhaps too close a claim 
except as term of address but the Winchelseas were connected with the 
Scotts through Isabella Finch, Sir William Scott's second wife, (m. 1433). 
This widow of Sir Moyle Finch, was created (by James I) Viscountess Winchel- 
sea and her male heirs made Earls of Winchelsea. In the Scott Memorials 
there are five letters addressed to George Scott Esq., in 1711, all signed, 
"your very affectionate kinsman, Winchelsea." Scott Mem., pp. 105, 116, 
117; XLTII, XLIV. 

f John Locke, the philosopher, writing from Paris, in 1677, mentions 
visiting this eminent man and examining his instruments for astronomical 
observations; a levelling instrument; a perspective glass or telescope, etc. 
Fox-Bourne Life of Locke, pp. 375-76. 



A CURIOUS EXPERIMENT f 265 

seemed to believe that he himself would be created a Marshal 
of France, at least! He was in closest touch with the all- 
important D'Alliez de la Tour, who was enthusiastic about 
the formula and facilitated the casting of some little seven- 
pound sample gun models, and also presented John to another 
key figure, the Due du Lude, no less than Grand Master of 
Artillery, begging the latter to favor Scott with his protection 
and recommend him to the King. The Duke, realizing the 
advantages of such guns, was delighted at the prospect, and 
urged all speed ahead in production. John, with visions of his 
guns being adopted by the Army as well as the Navy wanted 
to reward La Tour for his good offices. But La Tour (who 
like all of his kind at that period, probably made a very good 
thing out of purveying), declared that he was only serving his 
country in procuring the best possible guns. However John 
insisted on settling upon him a pension of three thousand 
pistoles countersigned Lord of Ash ford and Mornamont! 
Even John Joyne "for several services rendered" was to get 
thirty louis d'or out of every one hundred ton of metal 
Sherwin cast. 7 

John was indefatigable. Back and forth he travelled, from 
Paris to Nevers; from Abbeville to look at Colbert's new 
factories, to Rochefort, where Seigneley was founding a mag- 
nificent arsenal.* He made elaborate and beautiful drawings 
of his guns; the least detail received his personal attention 
and he was always ready to solicit further patronage of his 
scheme. 

About this time an old acquaintance, Sir John Bowles, 
arrived in Paris, and heard all about the new venture. John 
entertained him lavishly, placing a coach at his disposal to go 
to Versailles, hoping that his friend would put in a good 
word for him with the French King. Bowles did more; he 
took John with him and presented him at Court, and for the 



* It is quite possible that John, all this time, was still doing intelligence 
work for the British. His gun-casting scheme would have provided un- 
rivalled opportunities for reporting on French naval expansion. 



266 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

first time they both beheld that stone and marble miracle of 
comfortless splendor and mingled with the fashionable crowd 
who daily paid homage to the roi soleil. 

Paris officials began watching the experiment with increas- 
ing interest. Colbert wrote D'Alliez de la Tour asking for 
precise details concerning the number and calibre of the 
English cannon; 8 he ordered Besch to visit Nevers personally 
and try to get the secret of this formula for cast-iron so that 
John's guns could be duplicated in other foundries. 9 

From Nevers, in August, John wrote Joyne in extravagant 
praise of his workmen, "all masters of their craft." 10 Only a 
dispute with Sherwin over the engraving on the cannon each 
thought his own name should be immortalizedbroke the 
close harmony of those busy days. 

At last the guns were ready. Late in 1675, they were brought 
to Paris to be tested, just outside the city, in the presence of 
Seigneley, other Cabinet Members, and "certain great lords." 

Alas for all the high hopes. John's guns were no better than 
all the others. He had used the same acid brittle ore; his 
furnaces, too, lacked heat enough to "work" his material 
sufficiently; and like all cannon of the period, his barrels were 
outlandishly long. At each firing the strain on the tail was too 
great, and the pieces gave way under the powder's force. Only 
two out of his five resisted; the others broke to bits amid 
terrible explosions and clouds of smoke. 

It was a bitter disappointment; John was humiliated as 
never before. He simply could not face his old acquaintances. 
The gun makers quarrelled fiercely among themselves, heap- 
ing reproaches on each other and upon him, challenging him 
to a duel, making the wildest accusations of bad faith and 
botched opportunities. 

John's hopes of making a fortune had foundered. In his 
dejected mood he talked wildly of turning counterfeiter- 
making all the money he wanted, and flooding Europe with it. 
He would unload it on the coasts of England, Scotland and 
Ireland, operating from the Isle of Man ... so very con- 



A CURIOUS EXPERIMENT f 267 

venient, right in the midst of the countries which would 
distribute it. 

And it must be true, murmured the others, credulously, for 
when we looked at the map, there was the Isle of Man, right 
in the middle, just as he said it was! 

As a matter of fact among John's papers which reveal the 
man's almost universal interests there is a formula for blanch- 
ing copper. It was invented and published by Rudolf 
Glauber, of Glauber Salts fame, a German chemist living in 
Amsterdam whose fantastic claims earned him an interna- 
tional reputation as a second Paracelsus. But one cannot help 
suspecting, reading testimony about this counterfeiting talk 
that John was indulging in the very American practice of 
"kidding" his companions. Contemptuous and furious with 
himself over his Nevers failure, he was not above poking a 
little bitter fun at his workers, gullible enough to fall for any 
crazy scheme. But was Glauber's magic formula for trans- 
muting copper any less extravagant than the cast-iron process 
he himself had just tried? 

He might have felt less gloomy could he have read the 
reports French officers were making on other gunnery experi- 
ments; and how, for two long years, they continued to deplore 
efforts both of their own countrymen and of foreigners, to 
produce cannon heavy enough to fire a charge without ex- 
ploding. 11 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

1. SP. Dom. Car., II, 29/419, No. 28. 

2. Min. of War, Fr. Artill. Mem., XIV, p. 934. 

3. Fr. Mar. Docs., B3, XX, ff 164-65. 

4. Morn. MS., I f 406. 

5. Ibid., f 339. 

6. Ibid., f 341. 

7. Morn. MS., I, f 563. 

8. Fr. Mar. Docs., B-2, XXXI, ff 31, 423 v, 424. 

9. Ibid., f 303 v, 304. 

10. Morn. MS., I, ff 353-54. 

11. Fr. Mar. Docs., B-3, XX, ff 164-65; 294-95. 



CHAPTER XXXV 



YEARS OF MYSTERY 



"It has always been accounted prudence before a man im- 

barkes himself in any designed Enterprize, to consider 

well the event of issue that it is like to arrive unto, for 

the want of this has often proved the ruin of many a 

glorious undertaking; for where one Design has been 

gravelled in to the sands of a little delay, thousands have 

been split on the Rocks of Precipitancy and Rashness." 

John Scott to Sir Francis Rolle, 

Rawl. MSS., A 175, ff 181, 182. 



Now FOLLOWED THE LEANEST PERIOD of John's life, for what- 
ever fees he had received for his gun-casting experiment were 
exhausted. He had to give up his grand rooms near St. Sul- 
pice; the silver buttons and buckles of his satin suit found 
their way to the pawnshop. Shabby and down on his luck, he 
turned again to map making as a means of livelihood. The 
maps most prized by buyers were his brightly colored en- 
largements with decorative figures and designs surrounding 
different towns to commemorate battles or special events. 
Delving into local histories, he would dig up odd bits of in- 
formation and ornament his charts with imaginative skill. 

Much of this work he did in a "greate chamber'* lent to 
him by the Earl of Berkshire, a former Catholic Cavalier, liv- 
ing in self-imposed exile in Paris. Berkshire had been one of 
the very earliest to support Charles I and in all probability 
knew John's father, also among those first valiant few. Hence 
the offer of this vast room where John could handle his great 

268 



YEARS OF MYSTERY f 269 

rolls of drawing paper, undisturbed by the prying eyes and 
pilfering fingers of his concierge, Joyne. 

Monsieur La Pointe, a Paris draughtsman, testified that 
John employed him for months at a time, copying a number of 
maps (with a Mademoiselle Jaquelon to do the coloring). 
There was an elaborate one of the Magellan Straits; another 
of the St. Lawrence River and other parts of Canada which 
John had worked over from old Jesuit charts; as well as one 
of his favorites the River Thames (Deborah's River of Lon- 
don). All these took a very long time to do as there were so 
many details to insert, said La Pointe. One of them was des- 
tined for the Prince of Conde. 1 

It is probable that during this period John compiled a 
survey of New Jersey for an English publication promoting 
emigration. An Abstract of Testimonies* (now in the British 
Museum) was printed in London in 1681, but as John's con- 
tribution included French source material and mentions 
Frenchmen whose names also appear in a letter he wrote from 
France in 1678, it suggests he did the New Jersey piece while 
living in Paris. 

It is a typically competent Scott report, based on personal 
observations from several trips there, and on information 
drawn from "the Collections I took from the English, Swedes 
and Hollanders/' 

He considered the Virginia Company very ill-advised in 
not settling in this delectable country. Had Lord Delaware 
(Virginia's governor), after his visit there, 1611, prevailed 
upon the Lord Commissioners to remove their colony to New 
Jersey he would have prevented the deaths of "thousands of 
the English Nation who found graves in Virginia by reason 
of the many Boggs, Swamps, and Standing Waters which cor- 
rupt the air." Dutch trappers and merchants thought so too. 



* An Abstract or Abbreviation of some Few of the Many Testimony s from 
the Inhabitants of New Jersey and Other Eminent Persons who have Wrote 
particularly concerning the Place. London. Printed by Thomas Mil bourn in 
the Year 1681. (C 114, b. 7.) 



270 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

John dwelt lengthily on "the agreableness and kindness of 
the air," and its many natural blessingsdivers fish, fruits, 
vegetables, medicinal herbs "Puchamines, Malago toons; and 
a vast large creature called a Moose." 

He wrote of the abundance of wild grapes from which wine 
and brandy had already been made, and predicted that with 
the transplantation of vine-stocks from Greece, Calabria and 
Cyprus, New Jersey could possibly rival those countries in 
wine production, and be "even the envy of France and 
Spain." He dashed off statistics of wine-growing in Languedoc 
and Provence, quoted M. Le Tellier (Louis XIV's Secretary 
of State since 1643) on silk manufacture, and could not re- 
frain from giving a brief history of the whole business of silk 
making since its introduction from the Orient! No detail 
escaped his darting mind. 

Remarkable was his news of the iron mines in the province 
and the presence of various ores, coupled with "great con- 
veniency of wood and a multitude of Brooks for iron mills." 

Since the Tinton Falls Iron Works the first in New Jersey 
were established in Monmouth County only in 1675, John 
showed how very alert he was to American colonial condi- 
tions. Evidently his French friends (particularly Monsieur Gal- 
lane, son of Nantes* governor, whom he mentions) had been 
boasting of their iron in the Mesabi range around the French- 
held Lakes. This probably prompted John's revelation of 
New Jersey's deposits which were actually extensively used 
until the Revolution. 

There is no record among state papers that John at this 
period was employed as British agent in France this time in 
all secrecy. There is however some reason for thinking that 
he may have been: his frequent comings and goings through- 
out that country fit well into such an explanation. Certain it 
is, however, that he was sedulously keeping up his official 
contacts, English and French, and closely following the war 
situation. The information in one of his letters to Sir Francis 



YEARS OF MYSTERY f 271 

Rolle, Republican MP, reads very much like ammunition for 
foreign policy debates in the House. 

"If this can be used as a Spurre," he begins, "draw the 
necessary consequences and the result that is fallen out, is 
unavoidable/' 2 And he proceeds with an account of France's 
withdrawal from Sicily after her 1676 Mediterranean suc- 
cesses, and suggests she is concentrating her forces at home in 
preparation for an attack on England. He analyzes the mili- 
tary situation for two pages with a background of the his- 
torico-political intrigue at the French Court. 

His pithy thumb-nail sketches of high-ranking officers 
show not only inside knowledge but a nice sense of irony. 
The Duke of Vivonne, for instance, "great by birth and 
greater by the Meritt of his own Virtue," had conquered and 
long held Messina, gaining thereby "abundance of Reputa- 
tion and is determined to keep it, as also to have the Due de 
la Feuillade" (his creature) "appointed as his successor. La 
Feuillade, though not, peradventure, a man of the first or 
second thoughts in great Affairs," writes John, "yet I who 
know him as well as I know myself,* know him to be a Man 
that will be apt to say: 'Had Monsieur Vivonne stayed there, 
the place might have held out longer.' " 

An admirable successor for a momentarily vanquished 
hero! 

But it is not so much John's professional knowledge that 
this letter reveals however competent his reporting as the 
nature of the writer himself. Leaving politics and war aside 
for once, John described his visit to Rolle's only son a Paris 
student who had evidently, to his parents' anger, married 
without their consent, and without a marriage settlement! It 
is a very human little story John tells, gently reminding his 
reader that wealth, after all, is not everything. "Pursuant to 
My Lady Rolle's and your Commands, I was with the un- 



* The Due de la Feuillade was stationed in Rrugcs at the time John was 
British agent in Flanders S. P. For Arch. 105/224, f 43. 



272 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

happy Couple, and aggravated the Crime so to him that he 
wept and promised he would do anything you or your Lady 
his Mother would command him, ... I informed myself 
well and find he follows his studys with great diligence. . . . 
You cannot expect him to be a Philosopher nor a Politick- 
man. . . ." (and here John digresses for several paragraphs 
on the philosophy of knowledge, then comes back again to 
the lad). 

"You may, after his wife is brought to bed, dispose of him 
how you please. I must assure you that the People where 
they lodge take me for a man of a very severe nature, for the 
whole family was in tears, and the poor young Gentlewoman 
near her time wept with that vehemency that I could do 
no less than sympathise with her, and promise my utmost as- 
sistance; and I am confident had Sir Francis Rolle seen the 
condition she was reduced to, within a few days of her time, 
you would have had so much humanity as to forgive a thou- 
sand greater injuries than is committed to your Family. If my 
request is able to move you and My Lady, since none can say 
one word of her not being unspottedly vertuous. Have not so 
much regard to the Goods that perish, nor to the Extraccount 
which is not to be distinguished in death. And if she has a 
son pray own it as one that is like to keep up your Name, for 
Providence does seem to barre other hope. . . ," 3 

At least once, and possibly twice, during these lean years, 
John returned to England. Crossing the Channel and enter- 
ing his own country was a simple matter for a former govern- 
ment agent. Many a Searcher must have known him by sight 
and passed him with a nod. He was certainly in London in 
the spring of 1677, but still fortune did not favor him. Both 
his former patrons, Shaftesbury and Buckingham, were pris- 
oners in the Tower. In the mortal struggle between Charles 
II and his lawmakers, these two powerful ministers had dared 
to assert that the current parliament was illegally constituted. 
For this heresy they were temporarily banished from office. 

John's luck had never been lower. He was lodging in an 



YEARS OF MYSTERY f 273 

unfashionable part of town, at the house of an iron-founder, 
one Hill, when an extraordinary incident occurred, which, 
for all its seeming insignificance at the time, was to shed a 
curious light on John's career, and to have repercussions of a 
most sinister nature. 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

1. Rawl. MSS., A 190, 117; Ibid., A 175, f 161. 

2. Ibid., 181. 

3. Ibid., & 181-82 r, v. 



CHAPTER XXXVI 



PEPYS APPROACHES JOHN 

. no guard can defend a man from an envious eye." 

John Scott, Preface. 



IT WAS A BLUSTERY DAY in April, 1677, when John came back 
to his Houndsditch lodgings in a towering rage. He had been 
accosted by a stranger in Covent Garden, who had dogged his 
footsteps all the way to Lincoln's Inn Fields and then fol- 
lowed him home. "And the fellow seeing me come in here, 
went to the grocer's opposite to spy on me," roared John. 

His noisy indignation attracted a neighbor, a Major John 
Gladman, who came over and whispered to John that his fol- 
lower was none other than the notorious Popish priest, Dr. 
Coniers. 

"How do you happen to be acquainted with a Romish 
priest?" inquired John, for papists were anathema in Eng- 
land, those days. Even knowing one was enough to make you 
suspect. 

Popular distrust of the King's indulgence to Catholics and 
the Duke of York's open conversion to Rome had stirred ter- 
rible misgivings throughout the country. A Bill introducing 
a loyalty test had been forced upon Charles all office holders 
and members of the armed forces had to take the Anglican 
sacrament and forswear the Catholic doctrine of transubstan- 
tiation. 

The nation's eyes turned questioningly towards James. 
Would he renounce his religion to keep in office? The answer, 

274 



PEPYS APPROACHES JOHN f 275 

when it came, rocked the nation to its foundations. The 
King's heir laid down his post as Lord High Admiral rather 
than take the Test! 

That meant the crown of England would pass to a Roman 
Catholic! Protestants throughout the land closed ranks; politi- 
cal tension deepened; John's question was almost a threat. 

"How came you to know a papist?" he repeated. 

Major Gladman was very happy to account for his acquaint- 
ance with the Jesuit Coniers. "I was in the army with his 
brother Christopher, a harmless Protestant, with whom I be- 
came friends," he explained. "That's how I know George, 
who sometimes visited his brother, but who's lived in Rome 
these last seventeen years." Coniers, catching sight of Glad- 
man, came over to join the two men and, together with Hill, 
they all went to Gladman's quarters. 

Coniers suddenly asked John if he had ever heard, in 
France, of Mr. Pepys, and of his corresponding with the 
French to the prejudice of England. 

"That's an odd question to ask a stranger," growled John, 
on the defensive at once. 

"I do it in order for your good," answered the priest 
smoothly. "For I come from Mr. Pepys to offer you his serv- 
ices in order to the getting you into some honorable employ- 
ment at sea. For he hath great power to do kindnesses by 
reason of his interest in him who was a Barr [sic] to your 
Fortune" (meaning the Duke of York, who since Long Island 
days had been John's nemesis.) "Mr. Pepys will serve you 
frankly and effectually; he can do you a great kindness." 

The mysterious stranger left, and Hill wanted to know 
"why John would not embrace Pepys' friendship and olfers 
to him by Coniers." 

But John continued to fuss and fume. "You don't know 
what I know," he answered surlily. "I'll have nothing to do 
with those rogues, Jesuits and Papists; I wish it were in my 
power to prevent what I know concerning these villains who 



276 j- THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

hate our religion and government and People. And so doth 
their Patron" 1 (meaning the Duke of York). 

This entire scene was sworn to by these Londoners, three 
years later, when Samuel Pepys sent an investigator to find 
out what they had remembered of it. Gladman, possibly 
aware of its political implications, declared that he had not 
heard everything, merely "something mentioned about 
France/* 

But Hill was more explicit. . . . And the great Mr. Pepys 
himself, possibly in some trepidation, came all the way to 
lowly Houndsditch to meet the humble tradesman and to 
hear again what he remembered of the curious encounter. 

Hill, "a harmless ignorant fellow, minding his own busi- 
ness but reasonably well considered locally/' told his story, 
without mentioning, however, that Coniers had said he had 
been sent to Scott by Pepys. 

Pepys asked him point-blank if Coniers had said this. 

Hill hesitated, professing that his memory might fail him 
... he "was but a tradesman/' he said diffidently. "But now 
you put it into my mind," he admitted, "Coniers did say he 
was sent by Pepys/' 

The great man thanked him and withdrew. 2 

Had he really been willing to induce the Duke of York 
to help John in 1677? If that were so, and his offer a genuine 
one, it would have marked a turning point in John's life, and 
could have averted the misfortune which was to overcome 
him. John always considered that the Duke of York had 
blocked and blighted his career. In 1674, for instance, during 
the Third Dutch War John had had a promise to command 
the frigate Jersey, but Esquire Pepys hindered him of it. The 
only reason was "the place was too good for him," and Pepys 
told him the Duke of York said it was; it was a command for 
the best Knight in England. The command was never settled 
upon anyone." 3 

This Jersey was the ship John had already hoped to com- 
mand in the Caribbean when Willoughby had brought her 



PEPYS APPROACHES JOHN f 277 

out in 1666. Had "someone" at the Admiralty hindered him 
then, too? He was at that time a navigator of known repute 
but he had been only a junior officer aboard her at the famous 
St. Christopher's fight. True, it was he who had been en- 
trusted to negotiate affairs afterwards with the French (a fact 
that lost nothing in the telling when he met Prince Gond). 
But had it not been for the Duke of York's disapproval at 
home, John felt he would have risen very much higher in his 
career with the English armed forces. 

Was Pepys actually ready to intervene with the Duke for 
John's promotion when he returned to London in 1677? 
What could have been the reason? At that date, as powerful 
Secretary of the Admiralty, Samuel Pepys was in a position 
to have swung any preferment. 

Though it was odd, all things considered, that he should 
have been so interested in what John might have heard about 
him in Paris. And it was fantastic that he should have picked 
so notorious a Catholic as Coniers to make John such a re- 
markable offer. 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

1. Morn. MS., I, ff 33, 34 r, v, 37; 38-44. 

2. Ibid., ff 43, 44. 

3. Grey, ParL Deb., VII, 304, 311. 



CHAPTER XXXVII 



THE POPISH PLOT 



". . . Imagine that you see the whole town in a flame, 
occasioned this second time by the same Popish malice 
which set it on fire before. At the same instant fancy that 
amongst the distracted crowd you behold troops of Papists 
ravishing your wives and daughters, dashing your little 
children's brains out against the walls, plundering your 
houses and cutting your own throats."* 

Appeal from the Country to the City, 
Parl. History IV, app. No. IX. 



JOHN WAS RAPIDLY approaching the most exciting and crucial 
period of his life amid events that were ultimately responsible 
for the slurs and opprobrium that have shrouded his reputa- 
tion. It was his fate to be involved in historical happenings at 
periods of violent transition; now his work was undertaken 
against a background of national fear and suspicion stam- 
peded to mass hysteria. 

Anti-Catholic sentiment had troubled the reigns of many 
previous monarchs, but during the last part of Charles IFs 
it overwhelmingly surpassed all heights ever reached before. 
Dread of priests and Popish intrigue was coupled in the 
popular mind with foreign domination. The shadow of Spain 
and France loomed dark over the country which still shud- 
dered at the thought of Bloody Mary's burning martyrs, and 



* For publishing and circulating this inflammatory pamphlet, Benjamin 
Harris was pilloried and forced to leave the country. He fled to New England 
and founded the first American newspaper: Publick Occurrences. Boston, 
Printed by R. Pierce at the London Coffee- House, 1690. 

278 



THE POPISH PLOT f 279 

where the anniversary of Guy Fawkes' Gunpowder Treason 
was celebrated by official act. 

Persistent rumors of French gold in English hands in- 
creased the national terror. The Third Dutch War was drag- 
ging on, with Holland so hard pressed that many Englishmen 
now urged helping the Prince of Orange, even at risk of war 
with France. The House of Commons, panicked by French 
military successes in Flanders, hastily voted six hundred 
thousand pounds for a small expeditionary force; and Louis 
XIV, anxious to stop this British intervention, doubled his 
bribes to certain parliamentary friends to veto further sup- 
plies; while to his royal cousin and secret confederate he of- 
fered another subsidy to remain neutral and dissolve Parlia- 
ment. 

When negotiations for a general peace began, Charles 
withdrew his troops from the Continent, but he did not dis- 
band them. He kept them camped at Blackheath, within 
striking distance of London, thereby increasing the fears of 
those who said he might use them as his father had clone- 
to enforce his will on his own rebellious subjects. 

Relations between Crown and Parliament had never been 
worse. Even buttressed with French funds, the English King's 
position was precarious, and that of his enemies growing 
stronger. Public clamor against the Catholic Duke of York 
and concern over the succession were uniting the most di- 
vergent political groups. Anglicans as well as Dissenters, rem- 
nants of the armed Cavaliers, with thousands of Cromwell's 
old Ironsides, outright Republicans even ready to abolish the 
monarchy, all found themselves together in a formidable Op- 
position. John Scott, for all his royalist tradition, was irre- 
sistibly drawn to this camp. And upon the passions and con- 
victions of these distraught people, the greatest parliamentary 
tactician of the age piped a daemonic tune with all the skill 
of a political virtuoso. 

Public opinion, as it is understood today, did not exist in 
the seventeenth century. History could literally be made by a 



280 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

single man, and the Earl of Shaftesbury, leader of the militant 
Country Party, emerged as instigator of ways and techniques 
to mould men's minds arid manipulate votes. And despite the 
rigged elections and packed juries of this unhappy period, the 
impetus given by the "great little Lord" led eventually to 
the Glorious Revolution and constitutional government. This 
was a transformation of incalculable historical importance 
and John Scott played an active part in it. 

The stage was set for dramatic upheaval. The national* 
mood was tense and turbulent; inflammable as summer brush- 
wood, it needed but a spark to kindle a flame. And on a sultry 
day in 1078 the match was set. Charles II was walking in St. 
James' Park on August KUh, when an old acquaintance, a cer- 
tain Christopher Kirby, approached him and warned him not 
to leave his companions as there was a plot against his life. 
He could be killed on that very walk. 

The King ordered the man to Whitehall that evening with 
fuller information, and continued his stroll. 

That night Kirby brought along with him a well-known, 
somewhat hare-brained Protestant clergyman, Israel Tonge, 
author of countless anti-Catholic pamphlets, who gave the 
King details of an alleged Jesuit conspiracy. He begged leave 
to introduce the man who had uncovered it all a man him- 
self educated by the Jesuit Order and until but recently a de- 
voted adherent, when, reeling under the discovery of un- 
speakable infamies, he apostatized and was ready to reveal the 
whole infamous plot. Charles was inclined to pooh-pooh the 
matter, but the Duke of York, who felt he was implicated in 
this, insisted upon a public inquiry. 

So in the Privy Council, before the King and his Ministers 
one late September morning stepped the sinister figure soon 
to be hailed as Saviour of the Nation, Titus Gates, whose out- 
rageous story produced a veritable reign of terror wherein 
the merest hint labelling a man a Papist could wreck a career 
or end a life. His perjured testimony blocked parliamentary 



THE POPISH PLOT f 281 

business for two years, brought notoriety and riches to him- 
self, caused death and ruin to literally thousands of victims 
and split England in two, leaving scars which only centuries 
effaced from minds and hearts. 

Squat, bull-necked, bow-legged, his face a livid purple from 
high blood pressure, Gates' small sunken eyes were dominated 
by a huge wart on one brow. But most memorable was his 
chin that vast expanse of flabby flesh which made his mouth 
seem the exact center of his lace. From this slit came a voice 
at once shrill and affected, the voice of a toady and a bully; it 
smote the ears with the impact of "a bray and a bleat." 

To support his monstrous charges he exhibited letters 
which had been entrusted to him by unsuspecting English 
Fathers corresponding with Catholic seminaries abroad. This 
highly subversive correspondence alluded freely to Jesuit 
treason in Scotland and Ireland, a second burning of London, 
with wholesale massacre when French troops landed, and, 
crowning horror, the assassination of Charles II, decision for 
which had been taken at a secret Jesuit congregation "the 
Great Consult" he called it held at London's White Horse 
Tavern April 24th of that year, at which Gates so he sa id- 
was present! He had all the details pat. Coniers, the Jesuit, 
was to plunge his foot-long knife into the King; the Queen's 
own physician was to furnish poison should the knifing fail; 
Papist members of the new government had all been chosen 
and were ready to take their places when the Duke of York 
ascended the throne. Sole witness for all these horrors was 
Titus Gates lately starving in the London streets. He had 
sworn out the whole narrative before a London magistrate 
on September 6th, he said, but nothing had come of it. Now 
he felt compelled to tell all. 

Open-mouthed at the revelation, his listeners sat silent, for- 
getting the man's unsavory reputation. Not once, but three 
times, Gates had changed his religion. His entire twenty-nine 
years were a tissue of failure and fraud. He was a self-con- 



282 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

fessed perjurer, had been dismissed from a Jesuit seminary 
for sodomy, and from the Navy as chaplain on the same 
charge. 

Yet one or two notable details in his interminable recital 
were startlingly true and precisely confirmed certain facts 
known only to a very few. Such an obscure creature as Oates 
could never have learned them had he not access to some im- 
portant source. Moreover the tale he told was so perfectly 
attuned to the hysterical fears of Protestant England, haunteoV 
as it was by memories of the Great Fire and by distorted news 
leaks of the Secret Dover Treaty, that more than one figure 
at the Council Table realized what Party profit could be 
drawn from exploiting such sensationalism. 

Chief among these was the Lord Treasurer, Danby, anxious 
to divert attention from his own unpopularity and his dubi- 
ous relations with France; and now fighting a bitter political 
battle with Shaftesbury, who, too, was equally aware of how 
the Popish Plot could be used to serve Party ends.* 

When Oates left the Council Chamber he carried warrants 
for the arrest of various Jesuit priests and lay brothers. And, 
with his unfailing flair for the spectacular, he was soon ham- 
mering on doors at midnight, dragging victims from their 
beds, rifling letters and papers. 

The great witch hunt had begun. 

Almost immediately seeming confirmation of the Plot came 
from the highest quarters. Edward Coleman, private secre- 
tary to the Duchess of York, was implicated and his papers 
sequestered. The bulk of these he had already destroyed, 
tipped off by the very man who had taken Gates' original 
deposition. What remained was sufficiently incriminating: 
there were letters from the French King's own confessor, Pere 
La Chaise; embarrassing lists of English on the French pay- 



* "Let the Treasurer cry never so loud against Popery" said Shaftesbury, 
"and think to put himself at the head of the Plot, I will cry a note louder and 
soon take his place." Sitwell, The First Whig, MDCXCIV, p. 50. 



THE POPISH PLOT f 283 

roll; 1 detailed intrigue spread over long years.* Coleman was 
imprisoned and, to his own bewilderment, for the foolish 
young bigot obviously expected a reprieve, shortly thereafter 
hanged. 

Any doubt in the Plot after that sentence vanished over- 
night. Mobs lit bonfires throughout the city, exulted over the 
execution. And a blind unreasoning panic swept the land. 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE 
1. Aff. Etran., Nov., 1678, No. 131, f 203. 



* "Mr. Coleman's letters have given us much more trouble (than Gates' 
accusations), matters treated in these papers are of very high consequence" 
Secretary Coventry to Charles If, Oct., 1678 (Add. MSS. 32095, f 119). 



CHAPTER XXXVIII 



'BUCKINGHAM'S JOHN" 



"Go Haltering hope, by whose uncertain fire 
I cherish my tyrannical desire. 
Grief is a less unwelcome guest than Care 
And my state's such 
That t'will cost as much 
To doubt as to despair." 

John Scott. 



SHORTLY BEFORE THE PLOT'S tumultuous outbreak, John Scott 
emerged from his Parisian obscurity and returned to London 
to join his one-time patron, George Villiers, Second Duke of 
Buckingham, recently released from his Tower penance and 
restored to public life if not to royal favor. 

England's former Prime Minister and State Secretary, mem- 
ber of the Cabal, once richest man in the kingdom, childhood 
friend of the Stuarts and intimate companion of his amorous 
monarch's "most remiss hours," the jolly Duke of Bucks had 
been a resplendent figure at the Restoration Court and was 
still a potent voice in the House of Lords. Vigorously and 
audaciously he had devoted his life to the pursuit of happi- 
ness, fame, and fantastic ideas. Handsome, witty, of most ver- 
satile gifts, his frivolity and vanity masked a dual nature 
struggling with itself, for he was also of keen speculative 
mind, musician, playwright, friend of poets and philosophers, 
a true modern in this budding Scientific Age. 

Dryden's satirical genius does him infinite injustice. Never 
has he lived down that poet's biting caricature; and, stripped 

284 



"BUCKINGHAM'S JOHN" f 285 

in verseof his essential qualities, the Duke has been almost 
as much maligned as Colonel John Scott himself. For be- 
neath the quick-witted ebullience, the glaring indiscretions 
and lollies, lay a core of disinterested idealism, an aspect the 
Royal Court never saw. In an age of religious intolerance, 
Buckingham led the fight for liberty of conscience, risking 
political fortune with impassioned pleas that men might wor- 
ship as they chose.* William Penn, the Quaker, was his 
friend; persecuted Dissenters everywhere looked to him as 
leader, a paradoxical position for this gilded worldling. But 
it helps explain his association witli John. For the latter, too, 
had a deeply serious side and profound concern for the indi- 
vidual. He too could drink and wench with the best (or 
worst), turn a pretty sonnet indeed, no one not a lively 
talker could sit at the Duke's table. But throughout his life 
ran a dominating theme, and a curious one it proved to be in 
as resolute a Royalist as John had been. 

Time had brought the Kentish boy full circle. Politically 
he was reaching the summit of his life, he had matured to the 
role he had to play. New England had first opened his eyes 
to the rights of common people; the high-minded dc Witt, 
with his painstaking genius and determination to maintain 
the Dutch Republic, had completed the transformation. Now 
with England's faith and liberties in danger, John's place was 
logically within his patron's orbit. And very close, too, for 
he was known, at this period, as "Buckingham's John." 

When he arrived in London, early in 1678, the Duke was 
still under a cloud, sulking with the Country Party. Peeved 
at being out of office, he was also smarting from the unparal- 
leled affront the Cavalier Parliament had spitefully put on 
him. In that notoriously profligate society with cuckoldry a 



* Buckingham's great speech when he introduced his Bill for Tolerance of 
Protestant Nonconformists (1075) was regarded then as rankest heresy. Though 
much of it reads today as merest iiuism, its opening line still strikes a power- 
ful response: "My Lords, There is a thing called liberty. . . ." (Proceedings 
H. of Lords. (1742, Ed.) 1, 164-65.) 



286 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

universal pastime, it had officially censured him for his adul- 
terous lite with the ravishing Lady Shrewsbury whose over- 
weening cupidity had exhausted even his vast fortune. De- 
spite his formal appeal for forgiveness (together with that of 
his magnanimous wife, no less) he and his mistress were 
forced like any common fornicators caught in the act to 
give sureties for future good behaviour and were let off with 
a "caution" to the tune of ten thousand pounds each! Never 
had peer of the realm been so humiliated. He had retired to, 
his Cliveden estate to lick his wounds. 

Back again in London, he bought a mansion at Dowgate, 
and here John (bund him installed. "Alderman George," the 
King dubbed the Duke jovially, but kept a sharp eye on him, 
all the same. The City had never lost its Cromwellian flavor, 
it was boisterously anti-Court; "the Republic at the side of 
the Throne" some called it. Now it teemed with all the Op- 
position sects, busy with pamphlets and propaganda, active 
in the Clubs and Coffeehouses which were fast becoming a 
feature of contemporary political life. Among them, veteran 
plotter of half a century, was Buckingham's solicitor, trustee, 
and close friend, Major Wildman. Soul of the Republican 
Party, this "flamey" dedicated creature, loyal alike to col- 
leagues and ideals, conspired in a constitutional manner to 
bring about a democratic Commonwealth. Through five suc- 
cessive reigns he had defied kings and dictators, spent more 
than half his life in jail, finally helped bring about the Glori- 
ous Revolution, and finished not on the gallows, as his 
foes had confidently predicted, but as Postmaster-General, 
knighted, and one of London's richest Aldermen. 

Sporadically the three, Buckingham, John and Wildman 
plotted and talked strategy, though the Duke's credit was far 
too low to finance his manifold schemes. And his fortune did 
not improve when he supported in the Upper House the 
first move to exclude the heir-apparent from the King's coun- 
sels and presence, a defiant challenge bringing himself peril- 
ously near impeachment. 



"BUCKINGHAM'S JOHN" f 287 

The former royal favorite's defection to the Opposition 
had been duly noted across the Channel. The French King 
had always had a weakness for the flamboyant Buckingham, 
"the only gentleman in England/' he had commented flat- 
teringly on the latter's ambassadorial magnificence, doing 
much to win the Duke's Gallic sympathies. Louis saw in the 
present changed circumstances a means of infiltrating the 
House of Lords comparable to his pressure on the Commons. 
He had no scruples about supporting an opponent of that 
English monarch with whom he himself was still secretly 
linked! 

Bucks had a ducal disdain for personal bribes, but was not 
averse to accepting funds for the Country Party, especially if 
money conferred leadership, outranking his ally and rival, 
Shaftesbury. He decided to ask Louis for a round thousand 
pounds annually paid to the City Treasury, to be sure to 
be distributed among City magnates to win their friendship 
for the King of France. 

So complex were Anglo-French intrigues at the time that 
the mercurial Duke saw nothing paradoxical in a situation 
whereby the champion of English Protestants appealed to the 
French head of the Catholic Church to support the Whig 
Opposition whose avowed policy at that moment was war 
with France and exclusion of the Catholic heir-apparent! 

To Paris in those sultry days of 1678 flitted the three con- 
spirators, Bucks, Wildman and John, while fashionable Lon- 
don wondered what the Duke was up to. Barillon, the French 
Ambassador there, who had encouraged the demarche, 
begged him to make his journey openly. But it pleased Buck- 
ingham to go incognito, play a hush-hush role, pretend he 
was "busy with his wenches," and, instead of lording it at 
Versailles or Fontainebleau live modestly with his confidant, 
Sir Ellis Leigh ton, or in Picardy at the place Monsieur Gour- 
ville, Prince Conde's Intendant, placed at John's disposal. 1 

Negotiations for the money were tedious, protracted and 
in the end unsuccessful. 2 Louis found the masquerade little 



288 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

to his liking and, when a general pacification of the Conti- 
nent began, his interest lagged still further. 

Somewhat crestfallen, in mid-September the trio returned 
to London, where their escapade was quickly forgotten in the 
furor over the Popisli Plot. Buckingham retired again to 
Cliveden, there to fete King Charles's French mistress, while 
John did a little courting on his own. 

Women played a minor role in his life, casual affairs 
seemed to satisfy a nature as furiously energetic as his. Three 
women only had ever held his interest for long, but their 
qualities reveal something of his own, for each was a creature 
of spirited distinction: Deborah, his wile, now divorced; 
Dorothea Gotherson, preacher and author whom only just 
recently he had been squiring around London; and the last 
who attracted him, Lady "Constantia" Vane, staunch Repub- 
lican partisan and widow of that Sir Harry who more than 
any single man, perhaps, brought down Charles 1 and per- 
ished on the scaffold for his pains (1062). Vane it was whom 
John, as a little boy in London, quite possibly had heard 
haranguing Guildhall crowds, little dreaming that the speak- 
er's widow would one day be captivated by himself. But the 
lady, still in her prime, with a shrewd political head on her 
shoulders, indulged in romantic fancies about the dashing 
John. He bore his forty-six years lightly with the slim grace 
he kept right to the end. She declared "the sight of him fed 
her soul," the merest glimpse "but once a week" was strangely 
satisfying. 

They wrote each other in high-flown terms, using classical 
pseudonyms in the current literary fashion. She was his ever- 
faithful "Constantia," he, her "Artaban" mere mortal to 
others but later revealed to her as Prince. She dated her let- 
ters from "Suspendance" a mythical country retreat, and he 
responded with poems, many the graceful competent verses 
which every proper gentleman of the age could pen at will, 
but a few marked with real feeling and definite poetic quality. 
He did not, of course, overlook the advantages of such a re- 



"BUCKINGHAM'S JOHN" f 289 

lationship. But fortune-hunting was quite respectable in the 
seventeenth century, no marriage was ever contracted with- 
out lengthy talk of settlements. The greatest love-match of 
the age, that of Sir William Temple and the vivacious Doro- 
thy Osborne, was postponed seven mortal years simply be- 
cause each family considered the other too little endowed 
with worldly goods. 

The impecunious John began dreaming of independence, 
with means to enter public life, get even with his slanderers, 
fulfill personal ambitions instead of living the hand-to-mouth 
existence his current jobs imposed. Fashionable clothes 
tempted him, he sported a fur muff, mingled with rake-hell 
poets and pamphleteers in the political clubs. Alternately he 
provoked, then seemed to repel his lady, as his poems to her 
wavered between ardent joys of the flesh and spiritual coun- 
sel. 

Fundamentally, friendship between the two was based on a 
consuming interest in public affairs no mean bond for a 
middle-aged pair. John, like any troubadour, thrilled his 
Constantia with news and political gossip, and poured out his 
heart concerning his likes and dislikes, real or imagined 
slights, the ever-haunting conviction that his honorably ac- 
complished services went unrewarded. Evidently he broke a 
long silence when he returned from Paris, and from her coun- 
try house came an answer. For all its stilted tones and classi- 
cal allusions it gives a fair indication of her mellow worldly 
good sense and the way they felt about each other: 3 

Suspendance: Sept 25th, 1678 

I was very agreeably surprised last night with your most 
excellent lines, for as much a herrnetess as I am, and lover 
of solitude, yet I am very sensible of your great act of charity, 
in giving me so pleasant an entertainment, and by that, 
almost restrained some growing fears that you had received 
some ill-impressions of Constantia as well as of others. 

Certainly, Sir, as dull as I am, I am not so lost to gratitude 
and insensible of all your favors nor so little capable of 



290 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

judging persons as to mistake you, whatever others have 
done, whose faults I would excuse since the greatest part 
of the world judges without evidence and by appearances. 

I confess your profound silence made me sometimes guess 
at the cause, yet find I was there mistaken till I found it in 
yourself. I cannot condemn your caution, were that person 
your enemy, which in no discourse with him could I ever 
find; nor does any speak less ill of the absent than he, nor 
of yourself in the least degree. This injustice to an old 
friend I must beg leave to affirm. What has passed between 
yourselves I know not, but 1 never discerned him your enemy, 
and I would fain be a peacemaker between you if you would 
permit it. If not, you two are not the only opposites I have 
a respect for which I can preserve without injury to either. 
My long experience in the world has taught me greater tasks 
than that. 

Sir, I am extremely obliged for the particular informa- 
tions you please to give me on public transactions. Certainly 
these Peace-Maker rumors in Casa Cory don's Caban and his 
fellow shepherds will be at a loss how to deal with Syl- 
vander. . . . [These are cryptic allusions to tentative peace 
offers between the respective allies of Holland and France.] 

I believe peace will be sought by the Emperor upon the 
death of the Duke of Minister ... I thought the wind 
was turning and do expect a new face of things there. Sir, 
all your notices are extraordinary in their kind and have 
given me a more pleasant diversion since I left the Town; 
and you have made an effectual amends for your long silence 
in giving so large a pleasure, and yourself a trouble. None 
has the art of obliging as the Great Artaban [John himself] 
whenever he pleases. Time will do him great right in the 
minds of those who at present mistake him, but to them 
that know the grandeur of his mind and his true zeal for his 
country, they know what estimates to put upon all the hazards 
and fatigues he has put himself to, which I daresay he has, 
and will acquit himself with honor. 

The news from Scotland . . . [etc., etc.] 

I suppose the sitting of Parliament and the Cabal of 
the Capital will so wholly engross you that it were cruelty 



"BUCKINGHAM'S JOHN" f 291 

to you to invite you into the country. And you have not only 
destroyed my hopes of that, but of hearing from you, a 
pleasure I cannot quit without regret. I must confess your 
entertainments there more worthy of you and that active 
public soul of yours, than when discoursing with a poor 
solitary, who yet has no small concern for the country and 
what part is yet like to be acted upon the stage of it. If you 
have anything di nuova which you care to commit to paper, 
if but two or three words, you may please put it in the 
characters of the alphabet, for I am a little curious, at this 
juncture, to know how things are. But if this be too much 
for me I will excuse you when you have assured me you 
had no particular dissatisfaction; or if you have, what it is, 
for that is the honest way to preserve friendship, and not 
so to do as Lai Dor!, take offence, and never tell what! 

My great innocency and certain knowledge of the true 
respect and esteem I have ever had for Artaban makes me 
enlarge on this matter that nothing but a clear understanding 
may remain between him and 

Your most humble and faithful servant, 

Constantia. 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

1. Longlcat MS., Cov. Pap., XI, f 506. 

2. Aff. Ktran. Sept., 1678, No. 130, f 25; No. 131, f 77. 

3. Rawl. MSS., A 176, f 107, r, v. 



CHAPTER XXXIX 



THE PLOT THICKENS 



"If old Nick Machivel . . . were charged to invent a 
charm ... to conjure . . . the people into . . . insan- 
ity ... would not he have said: Have you never a Magis- 
trate that is popular and some way concerned about this 
Discovery? If you have, take and kill him and expose the 
body in a manner as may be most apt to stir the Passions 
of the People, for if you can fill them with anger and 
Terror all at once, any work, you would have, is done." 

Roger North, Examen, p. 198. 



LADY VANE might beckon from her country seat but her 
Artaban belonged definitely to the world of daily politics. 
He was too much accustomed to being part of history in the 
making to relish rural existence, unless, of course, it would 
prove a springboard to greater prominence. Anyway he was 
due to leave England again, on a mission. 

There was no time for fond farewells since his departure 
turned out to be dramatically precipitous, owing to the 
tragedy which befell Sir Edmund Bury Godfrey, the distin- 
guished magistrate before whom Titus Gates had sworn his 
original narrative. The Popish Plot gathered a terrible mo- 
mentum! 

Missing, in mid-Gctober, from his London home, God- 
frey's body was found five days later in a ditch near Primrose 
Hill, run through with his own sword (as if he had fallen 
on it), but with dark marks on his throat and chest that sug- 
gested foul play rather than suicide. The latter was not ex- 

292 



THE PLOT THICKENS f 293 

eluded, however, though his relatives did all they could to 
hide evidence of it, a suicide's estate being forfeit to the 
Crown! 

Sir Edmund's father had committed suicide, and Sir Ed- 
mund Bury Godfrey himself was a moody neurotic creature 
known to have brooded fearfully over his own unconscionable 
delay in reporting Gates' confession. During those fateful 
weeks, he had, moreover learned from Coleman that the 
Jesuit meeting which Gates attended the so-called Great 
Consult, reputedly held in the White Horse Tavern had, in 
reality, taken place at Somerset Mouse in the apartments of 
the Duke of York himself! Such a damning fact, were it 
known, would be grounds for impeaching the heir-apparent. 
And the honest magistrate had groaned in spirit under the 
burden of his knowledge. 

Did he kill himself to end his predicament? Contemporary 
medical evidence points to this, no matter what politicians 
said. 1 Gr did the Papists murder him to shut his mouth? 
Whatever caused his mysterious death and at least twelve 
different theories have been advanced during the last two 
hundred and eighty years Shaltesbury seized upon it to whip 
up public frenzy against the Jesuits. Godfrey's funeral was 
staged as a huge Protestant Manifestation. The corpse was 
paraded through the London streets and lay in state while 
the City went wild (under skillful mob-management) and the 
violent death was hailed as proof positive that all Titus Gates' 
horrendous predictions would every one be carried out. Al- 
most overnight the unfrocked clergyman became the coun- 
try's benefactor, arousing England from its sleep to an aware- 
ness of dangers in its midst. Honors were showered upon 
him, he \vas lodged sumptuously at the King's expense in 
Whitehall, was rewarded with money, regarded with awe. 
Admiring crowds surrounded him whenever he appeared in 
public; his highly sensational sermons drew record attendance 
when he preached on Sundays; his merest hint of accusation 
was fatal. 



294 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

The London jails became jammed with men of every con- 
dition, entirely unprepared to meet his wholesale charges; 
forced to face packed juries before judges who did not at- 
tempt to be impartial; threatened by howling mobs who 
would undoubtedly have stormed the prison and lynched the 
victims, had they been acquitted. 

Nearly thirty thousand Papists, or suspected Papists, were 
driven from home and employment by a decree banishing 
them ten miles from London. Teachers were investigated and 
harried; many stood mum in court refusing to incriminate 
themselves. National hysteria reached unprecedented heights. 
Trained bands and militia patrolled the streets against pos- 
sible attacks by "Popish cavalry," cannon were placed before 
public buildings, ladies of fashion carried pistols in their 
muffs, men wore quilted "silk armour" and flourished "Prot- 
estant Hails" when they walked abroad. Many of the wildest 
rumors that kept London's nerves on edge originated in the 
Green Ribbon Club which met at the King's Head Tavern 
overlooking Temple Bar, and which was headquarters of the 
Opposition. 

Just two days before Godfrey's body was discovered, John 
Scott, who was preparing for his mission to France, left Lon- 
don very suddenly. By the grapevine he had heard he was 
wanted and was to be "clapped up and starved." 2 

This was a moment when no man stayed to investigate a 
rumor; if he could get away he did. Abandoning his leisurely 
travel arrangements John fled, telling his Cannon Street land- 
lord he would be gone a month, but, curiously enough, re- 
turning the next day to impress upon him that should Major 
Wildman or Mr. Wentworth M.P. call, he was to say that 
John would be back in three or four days. 

He did not know that it was the Jesuit Corners, "squinting 
in both eyes," who was being searched for in the City John's 
sudden flight merely attracted attention to himself. And the 
misunderstanding was further complicated bv the fact that 
yet once again he had been mistaken for William Scott "son 



THE PLOT THICKENS f 295 

of the regicide," that convicted conspirator whom a Govern- 
ment agent, Colonel Blood, had just reported as "contriving 
an assassination." 3 Though all this only carne out later, the 
rumor was sufficiently disturbing to affect John's behaviour. 
He arrived in Gravesend, his horse all in a lather and he him- 
self somewhat wild-eyed. A simple-minded local butter mer- 
chant took him at first for a highwayman in his great light- 
colored periwig and cloth coat with silver lace on it. 4 

He stabled his horse a fine black creature with a good 
saddle holsters and pistol with a certain John Skclton who 
sold drinks at the Gravesend Fair. There John ate supper and 
afterward, since he had departed in such a hurry that he had 
no greatcoat with him, went to the Fair and bought one, for 
it was a wet night. 

The salesman, by an odd coincidence, was a man who usu- 
ally worked in London, at an inn in Cannon Street, and he 
claimed to recognize his purchaser by sight, declaring that it 
was a M r. Godfrey. 

Since all England was agog with tales of escaping Jesuits, 
John's harried actions began to attract attention, and a junior 
member of the Clerk of Passage decided to have him watched, 
confident that he could not possibly get away since no out- 
ward bound ship could leave Gravesend unless searched and 
cleared by a port official. 

After dinner John visited a certain Cresswell, one of the 
Searchers he had known from his British Agent days; and 
shortly thereafter he was noticed at the local King's Head in- 
quiring for the master of the Assistance, due to sail next day 
for Portugal. 

Sure now of his plans, John stayed drinking late at Cress- 
well's, talked volubly of his Republican friend Sir Francis 
Rolle, a Whig member of Parliament, at whose country house 
he had recently been staying. A health was drunk to the pros- 
perity of the nation and all responded noisilv. Then John 
proposed another for the noble Duke of Buckingham. But 
when someone toasted confusion to those concerned in the 



296 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

Plot, John (so it was related afterwards) was observed to 
dally with his glass and only lifted it to avoid a scene. 

Next day, easily evading his shadower, Scott disappeared. 
He joined some sailors rowing out to the Newcastle but had 
no difficulty in bargaining to be put aboard the Assistance. 
By the time his flight was discovered the latter had sailed, 
cleared privately by the obliging Cresswell. 

But John did not go to Portugal. Bad winds prevailed and 
he left the ship at Margate; most fortunately for him, since 
Samuel Pepys, alerted as to the mysterious traveller's move- 
ments, had sent orders that the Assistance be followed and 
searched, and the man arrested. The Admiralty Secretary now 
suspected that the Irish Jesuit Father Suiman (or Simmons) 
was fleeing the country under the alias of Godfrey (as he ac- 
tually did.) r ' There was a hue and a cry after him. Pcpys' men 
hounded the suspect from Gravesend; then rode pell mell to 
Deal, and, missing him there, tried Dover. Not a sign of him! 
John had escaped the dragnet. 1 Ic coolly doubled back on his 
tracks. Finding he could get no direct passage, he took horse 
for Folkestone, hunted up a fishing vessel whose owner he 
knew, and set sail for Dieppe. In no time at all he was safely 
at his destination, Paris. 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

1. L'Estrangc, Brief Hist, of the Times, pp. 154-234. 

2. Grey, Pad. Deb., VII, 311. 

3. SP. Dom. Car., IT, 405, No. 01. 

4. Rawl. MSS., A 175, ff 114-15. 

5. Cobbett, St. Trials, VI, 1443-69. 



CHAPTER XL 



JOHN WARNS KING LOUIS; AND 
RECEIVES A STRANGE CONFESSION 



". . . French and Papists, two terms of art in every mali- 
cious mouth, completing revenge on whomsoever cither 
can be pinned, and considering the easy credulity of this 
uncharitable age, it seldom fails to stick." 

Colonel Ed. Cooke to Ormonde, 29th March, 
1G79. HMC Ormonde, V, 7. 



IT WAS A NEW John Scott who appeared in France at the end 
of October, 1678. lie lodged in the fashionable Faubourg St. 
Germain, was in "good equipage" and rode in a fine coach, 
and once again seemed "very full of guineas." He paid off 
sonic of the money he owed John Joyne, though he was far 
too busy to spend any time with his former landlord. He was 
on a secret mission. Buckingham had sent him over with a 
message to the King of France. 

Paris refused to take the Popish Plot seriously. The Court 
treated it "en ridicule," laughed at England's fears, openly 
sympathized with "poor Coleman" who was executed, it de- 
clared, simply because he was a Catholic. Even the British 
Ambassador was piqued by the prevailing skepticism,* and 
in such an atmosphere of scoffing distrust John readily under- 
stood why Louis found nothing disturbing in England's cur- 



* Henry Savile, British Ambassador in Paris, wrote to Viscount Halifax of 
"the horrid impertinence and obstinacy of all here as to their disbelief in our 
Plot." (HMC Ormonde, V [1678J, 459.) 



297 



298 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

rent anti-French attitude, and was consequently unwilling to 
part with any money to counteract it. 

Buckingham's clandestine visit arid subsequent efforts to 
obtain subsidies had tailed because he had not realized how 
little the Plot impressed the French. It was exceedingly hard 
to bring home to Louis the full impact of England's belief in 
Jesuit intrigue. Something was evidently needed to convince 
him that their violent and determined conspiracy would 
spare not even the King of France himself. 

Such was the background of John's mission. The Duke pro- 
vided his agent with credentials and wrote personally to Louis 
of the awful matter John was about to reveal. "That Time 
presses more than can be readily conceived is shown by the 
new incident which the bearer, Mr. Scott, is charged to in- 
form you. And I beseech him (Louis) most humbly to give 
faith to all he (John) will say from me. ... Do me justice on 
this score for the love of God and rest convinced that I am 
with my whole heart and soul, your very humble, very obedi- 
ent and much obliged servant, Buckingham." 1 

John also carried a letter from Buckingham to the French 
Secretary of State, the Marquis de Pomponne, who was to 
secure his audience with the King. "There are many things 
which it is necessary you should be acquainted with but 
which would be too wearisome to send you by letter. The 
bearer will inform you of them in detail, therefore I beg you 
to conduct the gentleman bearing this note to the person in 
the world whom I honor and love the most, and to believe 
me [etc., etc.]. 2 

John went to Versailles, but if he was granted an audience, 
he had no opportunity for private conversation and a personal 
warning to the King. He was, in all likelihood, requested to 
put his message in writing, no easy matter for John. He 
could be eloquent in English, with a gift for a deft phrase and 
fine shades of meaning, but his French was far from perfect, 
and he must have had a hard time composing, on the spur 
of the moment, a missive of such import. But write it he did. 



JOHN WARNS KING LOUIS f 299 

And duly filed among the Quai d'Orsay official documents is 
his recognizable script, a short letter on a double sheet of 
writing paper, unidiomatic, even somewhat ungrammatical, 
but conveying quite adequately, in its bald terms, a startling 
enough story: 

"A person of quality and one of the best accredited and 
most intimate friends of the Duke of Buckingham and the 
Treasurer told the Duke of Buckingham that the Duke of 
York and the Treasurer had resolved to shift the Government 
of France into other hands. And that several persons had 
taken the Sacrament on it to assassinate Your Majesty. The 
Duke of Buckingham considered that it was his duty to com- 
municate the matter to Your Most Christian Majesty and he 
begs Your Majesty to beware of strangers, and in particular 
of Irishmen/' 3 

Whether the Duke actually believed this political gossip, 
it is impossible to tell. These were desperate times with men 
seeking desperate remedies. More than likely he was report- 
ing a sensational rumor of the Plot's ramifications in order 
to frighten Louis and thereby spur his generosity toward the 
Opposition leaders. 

But there certainly were links in the whole shady business 
between England and France. Shortly after John accom- 
plished his mission he himself received a curious confirma- 
tion of sinister designs involving men on both sides of the 
Channel. 

He had returned from Versailles to Paris and went to visit 
his friend the Earl of Berkshire. The old man was an in- 
valid now, plainly nearing his end. He had missed his young 
companion; there had been no one to bring him news of the 
outside world, no gay gossip of the latest plays as in former 
times. Now when John appeared, the Earl was interested but 
little in these and talked in troubled whispers of the Plot. 
Evidently something was worrying him; he feared that inno- 
cent blood had been shed. 

One night in March, 1679, feeling very low, he asked 



300 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

John's advice about a doctor, and John told him he knew a 
good one, an Englishman from the London College of Phy- 
sicians, but that he was no Catholic and surely the Earl's 
friends would not approve a man who was not only a strict 
Protestant but one who had publicly declared that the prose- 
cution of English Roman Catholics was just. The Earl, who 
was plainly no bigot, said it mattered not; "such a point he 
would not dispute nor did he value any man the less for dif- 
fering from him in judgment, therefore he did commit him 1 
self to the charge of Dr. Budgeon." 4 But it was too late. The 
doctor quickly recognized how serious was his patient's condi- 
tion. Visiting John afterwards at his lodgings he told him 
that the Earl greatly desired to speak to him, adding that the 
old man in all probability could not last long. John went 
back to him next morning and when all the servants had 
been banished from the room and forbidden to return until 
he called, the Earl made the following confession: 

"Colonel Scott, you are my friend; I must commit a secret 
to you; there has been a foolish and ill design carried on in 
England: I don't tell you the Roman Catholic religion is a 
foolish business for it is the faith I will die in, but 'tis the 
giddy madness of some of that religion I blame. I knew noth- 
ing on't till my Lord Arundcl, Mr. Coleman and others told 
me the business could not miscarry, and that I should be 
looked upon as an ill man if I came not in in time, and truly 
I believed them. I was none of the contrivers, I was not con- 
sulted with till towards the latter end of the day, nor did I 
ever hear anything mentioned about killing the King; if I 
had, I would have discovered it; and so indeed I ought to 
have done what I did know, as well for the personal obliga- 
tions I had to his Majesty, as that which my allegiance obliges 
me to, and every man to; for my Lord Bellasis is an ill man; 
he and others were accustomed to speak ill of the King, in- 
deed very irreverently/' 5 

John begged the old man to say who these "others" were, 
but he said he would not, though, in the way of old men, he 



JOHN WARNS KING LOUIS f 301 

ultimately did. "Good Colonel, ask me no questions; if I had 
known of approaching dangers to the King, I should have 
told him." 

He then sighed and wept but presently continued: 

"Friend, I see things will go as you will; for God's sake 
promise me you will find some way to tell the King every 
word I say, and that though some passages in letters of mine 
may look a little oddly, I would have run any hazard rather 
than have suffered any injury to have been done to His 
Majesty's person. 'Tis true I would have been glad to have 
seen all England Catholic, but not the way of some ill men. 
My Lord Stafford* was all along a moving agent, and was 
here in France about the business; the man of himself is not 
very malicious. My Lord Powis,* his covetousncss drew him 
in further than he would have gone. I believe and hope there 
will hardly be found matter against them to take away their 
lives, but pray the King, from a poor dying man, not to have 
to do with any of those four Lords I have named, for they 
love not his person. 

"My Lord Pecter* [Petre] has always had a great love and 
reverence for the King's person; 'tis true this last wife of his 
is foolishly governed by priests and influences him; but he 
was ever averse to all things of intrigue in this matter. I need 
not desire you to be secret, your own safety will oblige you." 

Lord Cardigan and others then came to call, the serv- 
ants were given orders to let them in, and, in their presence, 
the Earl repeated: "Pray don't forget the hundredth we 
spoke of. . . ." 

Once more John was with him, accompanied by Dr. 
Budgeon, but the Earl was sinking fast. He had grown ex- 
ceedingly deaf, and could only whisper: "Colonel, don't for- 
get what I said to you, for God's sake." 6 

Yet instead of returning immediately to England, John 



* These were the Catholic lords imprisoned in the Tower, for whose lives 
the Earl o Berkshire feared. 



302 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

lingered in Paris, publicising the Popish Plot. His old ac- 
quaintance Dallais, a language teacher, helped him translate 
news of it which he received from London and circulated 
among prominent people and in the French press. There was 
nothing secret about this activity; the British Embassy seemed 
to know what he was doing. Ambassador Brisbane reported 
home, 1679, that "The Duke of Buckingham has his agent 
here, Colonel Scott"; 7 while John, as was his wont, talked 
freely of everything he undertook and was volubly resentful 
about Samuel Pepys' attempt to arrest him as a Jesuit. 

Much of his time was his own. France was no strange land 
to him, and he could pick up many broken threads. He went 
to Burgundy and Picardy to do a surveying job for the Prince 
of Conde. That gallant old warrior who had never forgotten 
the charming high-spirited English officer, paid him a thou- 
sand pounds for his pains." Gourville, the prince's Intendant, 
reported that John was working on maps again, hoping to 
solicit the hitter's aid in selling some to the Prince. John 
also looked up D'Alliez de la Tour, Colbert's alter ego. The 
gun-casting fiasco, was, alter all, a thing of the past, John had 
regained his self-confidence and was ready to meet anyone. 
La Tour, however, was still grimly of the opinion that the 
Englishman had promised much more than he had ever 
accomplished. 

The months slipped by; John was never idle. Sometimes 
he was seen in the company of Mr. Benson, the Earl of 
Shaftesbury's Paris agent, but more often he played a lone 
hand. It seemed almost as if he were marking time, waiting 
for something to happen. 

***** 

However skeptical France might be about it, the Plot in 
England was going full blast. Investigations of Godfrey's 
murder overshadowed all else. 

Titus Gates had expanded his original testimony. At the 
bar of the House of Commons and again before the Lords, 



JOHN WARNS KING LOUIS f 303 

he came forward with fresh "recollections" and accusations, 
brandishing aloft a list of new suspects each time he appeared, 
in tremendous pomp. Prisons throughout the country began 
filling with Catholics; scares and rumors poisoned public 
life. All Papists were barred from sitting in Parliament (the 
Duke of York, excepted) and "priest-codding" became a 
brutal popular sport with tough gangs hounding the unfor- 
tunate holy men from hiding place to hiding place. 

Legislative business was practically at a standstill except in 
the investigating committee of the Upper House, presided 
over by Shaftesbury and Buckingham, who held hearings, 
sifted evidence, browbeat witnesses. 

The aims of the Opposition had been immeasurably ad- 
vanced by Godfrey's death. From that moment the Popish 
Plot "was rooted in the mind of the nation." When General 
Elections were finally called in 1679 the first in eighteen 
years the King's political enemies swept the polls. This 
Whig landslide was due in part to skillful Party organization, 
but also to the unstinted use of innuendo a whisper of 
Popery unseated the staunchest King's man. 

The Duke of York's situation worsened ominously. Mar- 
ried to a foreign and Papist princess, stubbornly claiming 
leadership of the Catholic faction, he was regarded, by nine 
Englishmen out of ten, as the most dangerous man in the 
country. The politically sensitive Charles, noting the Com- 
mons' first tentative movement towards exclusion from the 
throne, ordered his brother to quit the country, temporarily, 
for fear of civil war. Huffily, James left for Flanders, but at- 
tacks against him did not cease. A circle was tightening 
around the heir-apparent, though his foes approached him 
obliquely at first, striking at his subordinates in the hope that 
the latter would incriminate him. His long term as Lord 
High Admiral brought the Admiralty Office under fire, al- 
ways a safe move, anyway, for the Ministry was thoroughly 
unpopular and the Fleet's poor showing against the Dutch 
still rankled in the public mind. 



304 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

Now Samuel Pepys had risen to power on the Duke's favor. 
As Admiralty Secretary and political protege of James he 
began to realize how very vulnerable he was. True he had 
retained his parliamentary seat in the election, but his con- 
stituents seemed strangely suspicious. They circulated most 
damaging libels about the money he was supposed to have 
made in office, and revived an old charge of Popery against 
him, an accusation which but a few years previously he had 
formally and brilliantly refuted. But the political atmosphere 
in 1679 was such that no amount of oratory could wipe out 
so deadly an indictment. 

Like all men of humble origin whose unremitting industry 
brought them to prominence, Pcpys had accumulated a num- 
ber of enemies; men who resented his power and self-im- 
portant airs, who envied him his fine coach and his handsome 
Admiralty barge. Nor did his unfailing habit of assembling 
damning facts to rout his tormentors hinder their fixed de- 
termination to destroy him politically, and to take his job. 
For Pepys served not only the Navy. He was Treasurer of 
Tangier and during his years of office in this capacity carried 
on transactions of more than a million pounds sterling for 
this British overseas possession. In less honest hands than his 
such emoluments would furnish very rich pickings. 

Already the Opposition had struck at him through his 
clerk, Atkins, accusing the lad of complicity in Godfrey's 
murder. The unfortunate wretch was hustled to Newgate 
prison, kept in chains for months, alternately bullied and 
wheedled by the Committee who tried to get him to denounce 
his master. But for Pepys' own undaunted efforts to defend 
the prisoner, Atkins would surely have perished. 

Shaken by the near-tragedy and thoroughly apprehensive 
about himself, the little Secretary went back to his adminis- 
trative vigilance, to build more ships for the King's Navy and 
to set about devising a system for disciplining British tars. 
He confided his fears to his intimate friends, for he felt him- 
self slated to follow Coleman to the gallows. But he took con- 



JOHN WARNS KING LOUIS f 305 

solation in his own cast-iron alibi, for during the very days 
that Godfrey had met his violent end, Pepys had been sum- 
moned to Newmarket by the King. As long as he enjoyed his 
monarch's confidence and Parliament was in session, Pepys 
believed he could weather the storm. 

Then, on April 20th, an event occurred that was simply 
beyond his comprehension. The government fell. Neither 
civil war nor revolution provoked the change, but the King 
could no longer struggle against a hostile parliamentary ma- 
jority backed by frenzied masses howling for Papist blood. 
Charles dismissed his Ministers and invited leaders of the 
Opposition to take their place, though he retained Pepys on 
the Admiralty Board. It was a constitutional experiment, ulti- 
mately to become the basis (and the glory) of British Party 
government, with its permanent Secretariat. But for Pepys it 
was sheer disaster. With Shaftesbury now President of the 
new Council, the Admiralty was delivered into the hands of 
those who had always been its bitterest critics. Within a week 
they appointed a special committee to inquire into the Mis- 
carriages of the Navy. 

And on that very day, April 28th, 1679, Colonel John 
Scott, acting on Shaftesbury's orders, landed in England. 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

1. Aff., Etran., 17th Nov., 1678, CXXXI, f 183. 

2. Ibid., f 187. 

3. Ibid., f 186. 

4. Longlcat MS., Cov. Pap., XI, f 397. 

5. Ibid. 

6. Ibid. 

7. HMC. Round MSS. (1679), p. 404. 

8. Grey, Parl. Deb. (1678), VII, 311. 



CHAPTER XLI 



JOHN ACCUSES PEPYS 



It is upon the Navy under the providence of God that the 
safety, honor and welfare of this realm chiefly attend. 

Articles of War, Charles II. 



JOHN STEPPED OFF a fishing smack at Folkestone, but the 
arrest-warrant which Pepys had issued the previous October 
for "Godfrey" was still in force, and the port authorities, 
while according him kid-glove treatment, would not let him 
proceed. He was on secret orders hence his informal entry 
and he gave his name as John Johnson. But to the Dover 
Commissioner, to whom he was sent for examination, he was 
jovially frank. "My father's name was John and I am his son," 
he explained, telling who he really was and adding that he 
had been recently commissioned by Prince Conde to survey 
his Burgundian estates, and was now coming home to revisit 
his native land. John was completely at ease, said he was a 
soldier by profession and offered to take the oaths of su- 
premacy, allegiance and the Test. 1 He was quite unruffled 
when his trunks were opened and found to contain several 
elaborate suits, worth hundreds of pounds; a footman's new 
livery, as well as personal papers he had retrieved from 
Joyne's lodgings, including many maps, among them one 
handsomely fringed in blue silk. 2 

The Commissioner was baffled by his self-confidence, and 
subsequently wrote the Secretary of State for instructions. No 
sooner was John escorted to the Dover jail, than he called for 

306 



JOHN ACCUSES PEPYS f 307 

paper and pen and sent a letter to the Earl of Shaftesbury, 
who was now virtually the head of the government! 3 

Shortly thereafter a mysterious rider, a Mr. Cavendish, ar- 
rived to inquire after him, and finding him in detention, 
seemed most uneasy and immediately rode away. 

Prominent townsmen came to call on the prisoner: a Scott 
could hardly go unnoticed in Kent. They knew that this was 
no "wanted" Jesuit "not squint-eyed at all," testified one 
observer indignantly, "a proper handsome person." 4 His 
visitors included many of the leading Quakers and other Non- 
conformists, attracted, doubtless, by his association with their 
idol the Duke of Buckingham, but brought there also in 
remembrance of ancient loyalties. For was it not the Quaker 
Mayor of Flushing, Elias Doughty, who, years ago, had helped 
John escape from another prison, where Governor Winthrop 
was holding him for having signed a truce with the Long 
Island Dutch? The Friends did not lightly forget such ties. 
They sat up drinking all night with him, talking of brave 
past days; and one of them supplied him with money for his 
needs. 

Four days later the Secretary of State, Sir Henry Coventry, 
ordered his immediate release, and John set out for London. 

His first task was to unfold to the King and to the investi- 
gating Committee the Earl of Berkshire's confession. He told 
the story of the old man's last words and his remorse at not 
having spoken sooner. But John's statement was little to the 
Committee's taste. Its members were far less interested in 
establishing sober confirmation of conspiracy than in drama- 
tizing and exploiting its sensational aspects, in order to widen 
the breach between the Crown and the people. Titus Gates' 
trump card was the King's assassination by Jesuits. Berkshire 
never mentioned the Order; and his words practically contra- 
dicted this all-imposing detail. John told his story simply, 
almost casually; 5 it lacked all the lurid particulars with which 
other witnesses many of them professional informers spiced 



308 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

their concoctions, when they appeared before the Committee 
to point an accusing finger at some chosen victim. 

Yet there was no gainsaying his facts. At the time John 
gave his evidence, Berkshire's correspondence with Coleman 
was not publicly known; and Coleman himself was dead. The 
incriminating letters, read during his trial, contained nothing 
from Berkshire. The only other persons who could have 
known of the Earl's correspondence were those officials now 
holding all the letters a source to which John had no acce&. 
Certain passages in the writings must, indeed, have looked "a 
little oddly" (as the Earl put it) to the investigators, and 
certainly contained matter technically treasonable. But not 
one of them suggested any personal danger to the King. They 
tended rather to support the contention, confirmed in other 
quarters as well, but paradoxically not stressed by the Opposi- 
tion, that there was indeed a fragment of truth in the Popish 
Plot.* 

Gates must have picked up hints of the real Popish Plot 
the Secret Treaty of Dover visiting Jesuit seminaries in 
Flanders and Spain, although his vast superstructure of lies 
involving fire and bloody murder was fashioned to stun an 
irresolute public greedy for horrors. And to serve his own 
personal ends of course, for it had not escaped the cunning 
impoverished Gates that denouncing Papists was a very profit- 
able business. Gnly three years previously a young French 



* "The truth is, that after searching over every man's sack of papers (to a 
degree that we are all harassed) there is but little found to corroborate 
Mr. Gates' assertion as to the point of killing. But Mr. Coleman's papers . . . 
do notoriously explain his contrivances with France and Rome to extirpate 
heresy, route all Parliaments and establish the Catholic cause." (Sir Robert 
Southwell to James Duke of Ormonde. //. M. C. f Ormonde IV, 458-9, Oct. 
15th, 1678.) 

The King told Reresby that though he did not believe a word of the Plot, 
or that there was any design on his life, it was plain from Coleman's letters 
that there had been a design to introduce Popery. (Reresby, Memoirs, p. 
23-25th, Oct., 1678.) Coining from one who signed the secret Treaty of Dover 
promising to introduce Roman Catholicism, this was quite an admission! 

See also Sir Edmund Bury Godfrey's statement that "there would not be 
bloodshed or cutting of throats, but there would be an alteration of govern- 
ment." H. M. C. House of Lords (1678-88), p. 48. 



JOHN ACCUSES PEPYS f 309 

Jesuit wanted for forgery in Paris escaped to London and 
preached a hot sermon in the French Protestant Church at 
the Savoy, inveighing against Papist error. His congregation 
accepted his apostasy with joy and fat donations. For a while 
he lived in princely style, but the young man was unskilled in 
lying. Avid to wring more money with further fabrications, 
he was soon trapped in a web ol self-contradiction, and igno- 
miniously thrown out of the country. 

Titus, on the contrary, was one of the most accomplished 
liars of the century. Caught repeatedly in flagrant untruth, he 
could recover his equanimity and launch upon a Hood of 
plausible detail that confounded his listeners and sent victim 
after victim to the gallows and the quartering-bkx k. London 
mobs, like tigers, licked their lips at the obscenity of these 
ghastly executions, applauding alike the spectacle of castra- 
tion and disembowelling, and the zeal of those who vaunted 
that they were saving England from political peril and the 
domination of Rome. 

Gates was their Saviour he dressed like a Bishop and was 
dated for months ahead for all the public City dinners given 
in his honor. Parliament made the Duke of Monmouth 
responsible for his safety; the Lord Chamberlain lor his 
lodgings, the Lord High Treasurer for his diet and neces- 
saries. Three servants were always at his beck arid call; he 
walked abroad with a guard of honor; the House of Lords 
publicly thanked him, the Archbishop of Canterbury recom- 
mended his promotion in the Church. Whispering and ges- 
ticulating at his side was always his tame counsel, Aron Smith 
an agile lawyer, devastatingly inventive but of dubious 
character. 

In an atmosphere of such hysterical excess John's modera- 
tion precluded further testimony before the Committee, 
though he was slated to be Crown witness when the findings 
of the Navy were reported to Commons. 

Samuel Pepys had meanwhile passed an excruciating three 
weeks justifying to the new Council his every act in office. 



310 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

Armed with his books of minute entries he was able to stand 
off much of the searching criticism, though it was impossible 
to satisfy such implacable probing. Overwrought and ex- 
hausted, he was ready to resign from the Board in the face of 
concerted enemies.* 

The Opposition Lords had no intention of permitting such 
an easy exit. William Harbord, powerful member of Thet- 
ford (and he who most coveted Pepys' job), rose before the 
packed benches, and outlined the Secretary's crimes: popery, 
piracy, felony and treason. 

He was sorry, said the suave Harbord, to accuse a man he 
liked well, but Pepys was a secret Papist; he had trafficked in 
privateers, procuring a royal grant to the sloop Hunter for 
Sir Anthony Deane and his brother-in-law Baity St. Michel; 
and, worst of all, had sent to France, by that same Anthony 
Deane, naval secrets and confidential maps which he had 
offered to the French King for a vast sum . . . To confirm 
these horrid charges, Harbord said he would bring a witness 
to the stand. And before the bar of the House of Commons, 
he ushered in Colonel John Scott, a splendid figure in satin 
and silver lace. 

In such a setting John was in his element; a captive audi- 
ence and a cause to plead! He began by informing the Com- 
mittee that he had had the opportunity of knowing several 
great men belonging to the French Navy, and by their death 
he was discharged from obligations of secrecy. He stated "that 
Monsieur Pelissary, Treasurer-General of the French King's 
Navy showed him several Draughts of Models of Ships (sent 
him from England); the Government of the Admiralty; the 
Number of Ships; the Strength and Condition of the Navy; 
Methods of Sea-fights, collected from the best Sea-command- 
ers; the Satisfaction of the Seamen, those bold fools who for 
money will do anything; Maps of Sands and Soundings of 



* ". . . and Mr. Pepys, however prepared, must certainly be destroyed." 
Sir R. Southwell to the Duke of Ormonde, April 28th, 1679. H. M. C. Or- 
monde IV, 506. 



JOHN ACCUSES PEPYS f 311 

the Medway, and the Kent shore; the Isle of Wight; Remarks 
upon the present condition of Plymouth; the Plans of Sheer- 
ness and Tilbury. He who brought the Yachts for the Canal 
of Versailles was Captain Deane who could give a further 
account. All these papers were signed by Pepys.* M. Pelissary 
had orders to use Captain Deane with great kindness. Pepys 
would not part with these things but for so good an end as 
forty thousand pounds. But there is a mystery in this, more 
than I dare speak of/' 6 added John. 

Pepys sprang to his feet, heatedly, full of denials. Never 
had he been a Papist; and there had never been hearings at 
the Admiralty concerning the Hunter. "I know neither the 
ship nor share in her, nor the cause there depending. As 
for the charge of Captain Scott I know neither his name nor 
quality, where is his abode or dependencies? He is an utter 
stranger. This House made not the Committee a Secret Com- 
mittee. I overheard a Gentleman say 'Is not this Colonel 
Scott, he that gave information at the last Parliament?' I 
know not. 

"The story is this, There was an information about the 
breaking out of the Plot from an officer at Gravesend that a 
stranger came thither on Saturday night and walked about 
Sunday, and would have hired a boat to carry him away any- 
where. He set up his horse without the town. (I will do 
nothing with malignity.) This man made his escape before 
he could be seized; he was pursued to Deal and to Dover; 
this man could not get passage directly but goes to Sandwich 
and so to Rye under the name of Godfrey/' (Pepys had evi- 
dently had a time following John's traces.) "The House com- 
manded me to seek after him. The Lord Mayor found out his 
lodgings and found papers of ill-importance which were de- 



* The piracy charge was for fitting out a sloop, the Hunter, out of His 
Majesty's stores in the year 1673, making her free of the French ports, procur- 
ing her a French Commission in order to cruise on the Dutch; she also made 
a prize of a free English ship called the Catherine of London which, though 
English, the checkmasler of Portsmouth sent to Paris to get condemned. 



312 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

livered to the Speaker and are now in the Secret Committee's 
hands. I would not have troubled you with this story without 
some reflection. If the same be true of this gentleman (Scott) 
you will find that these papers, found in his lodgings, were 
just such papers as he accuses me of. What construction you 
will make of it I will leave to you. Now, whether Scott does 
this to quit scores with me I do not know, but this I am sure 
of, for writing into France, to the Ambassador, or any French 
Minister, or for communicating any of these weighty secrets, 
it is out of my province, for the fashions of ships, etc., are 
entirely out of my watch. In these Papers you will find all 
Representations, as reported from the Navy Officers to the 
House, word for word, and the Ordnance transcribed. He 
tells you, 'That the Papers in France etc. were signed by me/ 
Tis Scott's 'Yea, by Report'; tis my 'No before God Al- 
mighty/ " 7 (Italics added.) 

The House listened in silence. The little Secretary was an 
emphatic speaker, but there were too many present, intent on 
his downfall, to be impressed by his oratory. In vain Pepys 
rebutted the testimony of his butler, James, called as witness 
of his Popish leanings; it availed him nothing. There were 
members who mocked his misfortunes sneering that even 
Pepys' servants, who could best observe his behavior, sup- 
ported the Popery charge. 

Anthony Deane spoke equally heatedly in his own defense, 
denying all but the charge concerning the Hunter. Curiously 
enough, he admitted he had had an eighth share in her, but 
the captain had swindled him, he received not a penny of 
profit, and he seemed to think that this exonerated him from 
any suggestion of piracy. As to Scott's other accusations, never 
had he conversed directly with a single Frenchman during 
his whole visit to France. His son had been with him every 
minute, to act as his interpreter, for he himself spoke not one 
word of the language, he was dependent upon his boy. And 
he wept at the thought of his innocent child ... of all his 
twelve innocent babes. But the House was unmoved by the 



JOHN ACCUSES PEPYS f 313 

spectacle Party discipline triumphed over any personal 
qualms. 

Sir Joseph Williamson rose to add one detail: "I remember 
one thing that Deane forgets there was a time when the 
French sent the Marquis de Seigneley who took his way 
affectedly out of his way by Portsmouth. I remember Deane 
laid a counterplot against the Marquis to prevent any informa- 
tion he could get of the Navy." But Mr. Harbord would listen 
to no such defence . . . the Duke of York himself had laid 
down his post of Lord High Admiral, by act of Parliament 
yet these men, he declared . . . Pepys and Deane . . . are 
directed by the Duke to put the Navy into Papists' hands. 
The ships are riddled with Popery. . . ." 

This was an echo of that month-old terrible threat! "I will 
prove Popery in the Fleet at the Bar!" 

Sir Henry Coventry rose to speak in Scott's favor and to 
wipe out the counter-accusation which Pepys had just made 
against him, explaining the misunderstanding which had 
caused that former inquiry and ignominious arrest. "It was 
Conyers the Jesuit who was searched lor in the City," he said, 
describing the comedy of errors. Mr. Harbord added his 
word of Scott's defence, too, quoting Williamson, who knew 
John better than any present. 

"He is the ablest man in Fngland for a West India voyage 
. . . Scott has a testimonial from the great de Witt, he 
commanded eight regiments of Foot for the relief of Flanders. 
A great man in England told me that Scott was attempted to 
be corrupted to bear false witness against him. And Scott 
detested it." (For John's high-principled action in Flanders 
was remembered by the well-informed.) "Though the matter 
is not treason against Pepys, yet it is felony." 8 

And felony the House believed it to be. Pepys and Deane 
were led away and committed to the Tower. 

That night cheering crowds assembled around the Green 
Ribbon Club and there were triumphant bonfires and wild 
jubilation. 



314 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

1. Longleat MS., Cov. Pap., XI, ff 393-96. 

2. Rawl. MSS., A 188, f 137. 

3. Longleat MS., op. cit. 

4. Rawl. MSS., A 138, 114. 

5. Pollock, The Popish Plot, p. 63. 

6. Grey, Parl. Deb., VII, 303-04 (appendix 311). 

7. Ibid., 305-07. 

8. /fcid.,311. 



CHAPTER XLII 



COUNTER ATTACK 



"In probability of a war 'tis best to begin." 

Duke of Buckingham, 
Commonplace Book. 



OVERWHELMED BY THEIR HORRIBLE SITUATION Samuel Pepys 
and Sir Anthony Deane sank down in their Tower prison 
quarters. For four days they lay crushed and speechless. 

The Opposition had been devilishly clever in preparing its 
case to entrap the man who had dared, many times, to bypass 
parliamentary sanctions when he considered that these 
blocked his efforts to build more ships. 

The taint of Popery, of course, Pepys knew clung to him 
from his Catholic friends, beginning with the Duke of York 
himself: it was guilt by association. But treachery to his 
beloved Navy! How could a man whose lifework had been 
creating England's sea defenses face such a charge? 

Yet innocent as Pepys believed himself to be, he could well 
see how damningly facts could be twisted against him. He 
must have known, only too well, how much material the 
Admiralty had furnished France during the two-year alliance, 
1672-74, when a British Admiral commanded the combined 
Fleets. Even at the time these revelations had aroused the 
greatest apprehensions at the Admiralty. But the King, how- 
ever grave his own misgivings in this period of shifting 
alliances, was captive of that secret Treaty of Dover. Salve his 
conscience as he might with the thought that he had no 

315 



316 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

intention of keeping its terms, yet certain concessions Louis 
could exact of him. And did. 

There were all the Duke of York's most explicit instruc- 
tions (and when he resigned, 1673, those of Prince Rupert) 
concerning the union of the two Navies, with eighteen pages 
of rules and diagrams of the fighting order that close-hauled 
five-mile array: England's "wooden walls" and exact position 
of all ships of the line; the discipline (gouvernance) to be 
observed both night and day; the methods of attack, tc., 
secrets no nation gives away lightly unless bound to another 
by the closest ties. All these documents (now in the Paris 
Archives Nationales) 1 John might very well have seen, for in 
his expanded notarized testimony his descriptions tally with 
the original French. 

In addition to these memoranda there were the related geo- 
graphic details to which that Dutch agent, in 1672, had 
already referred: "the secrets of their coasts, their sands, their 
banks, their avenues of approach" 2 the kingdom's very 
strength and weakness, as he gloatingly related, that the 
English had had to make known to the French. Was this all 
down in black and white, too? Such matters were not Pepys' 
department, but he must have quailed as he thought of the 
record. When a former ally becomes an enemy and England 
was practically at war with France in 1678 does not such 
information look like treason? In the fevered climate of those 
days it could very well be made to. 

Yet how could the Secretary defend himself, and disclaim 
any part of this without implicating the Crown? 

Samuel Pepys was being framed by the Opposition. Mis- 
carriages of the Navy there might well have been, but prime 
target in this attack was the popish heir-apparent. By bring- 
ing the Admiralty Secretary within the shadow of the gallows 
his adversaries hoped that he would "fetch himself off" by 
incriminating the Duke of York. 

Pepys did not scare easily, but he had always demonstrated 
a marked political insensitivity. His mind was a rich store of 



COUNTER ATTACK f 317 

the multifarious technical details that made him the greatest 
naval administrator England had seen, but broad lines of 
national policy were beyond the compass of his vision. He 
reacted to the present dilemma as though it were a purely 
personal challenge: John Scott's wicked plot to revenge his 
attempted arrest! 

But Scott himself, was he perfectly convinced that the 
papers he had seen had been secretly conveyed to France? 
"There is a mystery about this," he had testified, both before 
the House and in his subsequent sworn affidavit. "More I 
dare not say/' Had he dared say more would not his evidence, 
too, have thrown suspicion on the King? No one has ever ex- 
plained this point. Who actually was responsible for the tell- 
tale documents? It remains as much a mystery today as John 
confessed it to be. 

In the House of Commons, John was no docile witness. 
He had not slanted his Berkshire communication to fit the 
Investigating Committee's requirements, and even now as 
Crown witness for this most important issue he would not 
suppress an honest doubt that all was not clear as to how those 
papers came to Pelissary's hands. The Lord High Admiral's 
orders were obviously official, but we do not know what else 
John saw. French Ministers are permitted to keep and dispose 
of their papers (when they quit their posts) and the Paris 
Archives are not complete. 

Had there been more than the authorized communications? 
Had Deane taken over anything extra from the Navy files, 
or made verbal communications? He could well have argued 
that since France already had so much, a little more could not 
matter, relations between the two countries were so very 
cordial in 1675. Then Louis, too, was universally regarded as 
the fountainhead of European cash. Was it possible that the 
sturdy shipbuilder had tried to make a little on the side when 
he accompanied the miniature ships to Versailles? One viewed 
such conduct more or less indulgently in those times, and he 
certainly would not be the first to have taken French money. 



318 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

All this and more must have occurred to Pepys as he looked 
long and questioningly at his fellow prisoner. 

Deane had admitted the piracy charge; and even Pepys 
himself may have felt a little uneasy on that score, though his 
hands were clean in the matter of the Hunter.* 

But secret information was another matter. Deane had 
indignantly countered the accusation by swearing that he 
could not possibly have had intelligence with the French since 
he spoke not a word of the language and his son who inter- 
preted for him never left his side. Could a father betray in 
the presence of his child?! But here again, the Paris docu- 
ments tell another story. There are so many entries about 
interpreters for the English captain that it looks as if indeed 
Deane had, as John's testimony averred, had a great many 
"explanations" to make. 3 

Colbert's directive to Monsieur Vauvref is precise on this 
point: "I heartily approve of all that you have done concern- 
ing Mr. Deane. I will give him an interpreter so that his son 
will not be obliged always to be with him, I will let him have 
M. Danois,J until I come back to Paris, after which I shall 
see if it will be necessary to put some other man with him." 4 

Intendant Arnoul reported to Colbert that "Mr. Deane will 
be very happy to have an interpreter with him so that his son 
does not always have to be with him." 5 Obviously Deane was 
not telling the truth by insisting the lad never left his side. 

The gifted ship builder had been overwhelmed by his 



* During the Second Dutch War of 1666-67, Pepys became joint owner, 
(with Admirals Penn and Batten) of the Flying Greyhound, granted them by 
the amiable Charles II, and referred to (in his Diary, Mar. 14, 1666/67) as "our 
privateer." (VI, p. 223) Pepys was concerned lest news of this irregularity 
leak, especially as certain men with "orders under our hands," as he wrote, 
demanded payment for sailing her. "The thing upon recollection, I believe, 
is true and do hope no great matter can be made of it, but yet I would be 
glad to have my name out of it, which I shall labor to do; in the meantime 
it weighs as a new trouble on my mind." Wheatley Diary VII, 347. 

f Commissaire-G^neral of the Marine at Le Havre. 

j Secretary of the Intendant of the Marine at Le Havre. 



COUNTER ATTACK f 319 

friendly reception in France, in 1675; courtesies and presents 
were showered on him 6 bringing to a triumphant conclusion 
his two years' labors building the yachts, aided by French 
sculptors and painters, and paid more money than he had ever 
seen before. The two little ships were Charles' "gift" to his 
royal cousin, but it was Louis who bore the cost. Thirteen 
thousand pounds Deane had asked and received for the Com- 
mission; 7 was it unpardonable to think that such a golden 
source might provide even more? 

Why, if Deane was innocent, did he lie about his interpre- 
ters? Was he afraid that they might be subpoenaed to tell 
what they knew of his "explanations"? 

Had Pepys any inkling of his colleague's possible indiscre- 
tion; could he have guessed what might creditably have trans- 
pired in Paris? His capacity for acquiring gossip was phe- 
nomenal, however garbled the facts might sometimes be. 

Deane had surely told him about that memorable dinner 
with Pelissary, where, walking in the garden beforehand, his 
host had informed him that doubtless he would be delighted 
to know that a fellow-countryman was joining them. On 
hearing that this was none other than John Scott, Deane was 
appalled. On no account did he wish Scott to see him there; 
he had had positive orders about this. So Pelissary, astonished, 
but obviously most anxious to hear what Deane had come to 
"explain," prevented the encounter by having John served 
dinner privately in another part of the chateau. 

Was this the reason that Pepys had promised to help John 
Scott get a naval command, back in 1677 to insure his silence 
about that disturbing contretemps? A hazardous undertaking, 
but the Secretary was quixotic enough to risk anything for the 
sake of his King and Navy. 

Only John had not risen to the bait. "You don't know what 
I know," he had answered those who marvelled at his refusing 
such good services. And Pepys in his grim confinement, must 
have remembered, in agony surely, his rash message sent to 



320 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

John's Houndsditch lodgings, by Comers* of all people! 
What would the Opposition make of that? 

For four days Samuel Pepys was crushed and helpless; at a 
loss as never before. Then his resolute spirit asserted itself. 
He would carry the offensive into his enemies' territory. He 
would destroy their prime witness. He would show that Scott 
''was a scandalous person not to be believed/' 8 And more. He 
would discover evidence to back up his own wild counter- 
accusation that Scott himself, not Pepys, was the traitor. 

In a burst of energy he seized pen and paper, writing to 
everyone he could think of at home and on the Continent, 
carrying into his private affairs the meticulous technique he 
had devised for Admiralty administration. A spate of letters 
poured out of the Tower, conveyed and posted by a friend. 
While Deane still lay in silent consternation, Pepys was his 
old industrious self, building up the biggest case of his life. 

"What do you know of the ill practices of John Scott?" was 
his standard inquiry, supplemented with suggestions along 
the lines of reply he needed. 

The British Embassy in Paris was driven frantic by the 
avalanche of mail both to the ambassador and to Brisbane, 
the Naval Attach^. Pepys listed every detail of John's accusa- 
tion of himself and, in counter-accusation, asked about John's 
"ill-usage of the States-General"; demanded to know about 
"his more private negotiations with France; whether he did 
sell to the King of France, or to Prince Conde maps and 
papers relating to the world in general as well as England in 
particular"; etc., etc. For good measure he added that al- 
though Scott was "wholly a stranger to him," yet he was "so 
well known to others as to give me little fears of having the 
credit of my evidence outweigh his. I hope to lay at his door 
the very crimes he accuses me of." 9 (He probably hoped, too, 
that by flatly denying, at the very outset, all knowledge of 



* Oct. 30, 1679 George Corners apprehended as guilty of the plot. Luttrell 
Brief Relation, 1, 36. 



COUNTER ATTACK f 32f 

John that his own embarrassing offer of help would never 
be known.) 

Fat, good-natured, indolent Ambassador Savile, goaded into 
action by these long epistles, with Pepys' anguished postscript 
that his very life was at stake, finally took time to reply that 
"Scott is a fellow who I thank God is not of my acquaintance/' 
Then, drawing upon his correspondent's lurid insinuations, 
added, "but he is of so despicable a vile reputation in all 
places where he has lived that a real criminal would be fortu- 
nate to suffer by his means." A statement which would not be 
too helpful before the Investigating Committee. 

Brisbane replied that he, too, did not know John personally 
though wrote at length about his work. (It was, of course on 
account of John's maps that Pepys hoped to pin on him the 
proof of treason.) But Brisbane's letters were disappointingly 
negative. He said that he had indeed heard that John fur- 
nished some maps of English and French ports to Prince 
Conde but that he, Brisbane, did not think they were original, 
but copies of old English or Dutch prints, "to be bought 
cheap arid publicly allowed. . . . [His] maps of large scale, 
variety of colors and ornaments of designing . . . might pass 
upon Prince Conde's seasmanship tor all his vast and un- 
paralleled abilities in all other things." 10 For evidently Bris- 
bane seemed to consider that there might be lovely pictorial 
charts, not necessarily of strategic value, nor even very accu- 
rate. (Italics added.) 

"Someone else told me about Colonel Scott's work," wrote 
Brisbane, in a second letter. "Lord Arlington's brother and 
some others had been examining an unfinished map of the 
English and French coast, and Arlington said Scott was asking 
for some printed books to copy the part not yet drawn. He 
agrees with me that Colonel Scott did perform the part of 
copyist. . . . except we think the ornamenting and enlarging 
the scale of a map to be a piece of great art. Neither of these 
gentlemen could say he (Scott) expressed any intention of 
giving that map to the French; it rather seems he designed 



$22 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

to tempt their own curiosities than to impart any worse de- 
signs to them/' 11 (Italics added.) 

Brisbane was entirely noncommittal and was obviously 
irked by the insistent demands that he approach Colbert and 
Seigneley and get from them "public statements" exonerating 
the Tower prisoners. In vain he pointed out that no English- 
man could possibly believe the testimony of French Catholics. 
Pepys simply refused to be put off with excuses. And at last 
Brisbane, profiting by a casual meeting with the superciHous 
Seigneley brought up the embarrassing matter of Pepys' 
alleged correspondence with him, assuring the French min- 
ister that he would not have done so had he imagined it 
would "cause the least pain," since he was convinced that the 
"answer would prove easy to him and satisfactory to me," as 
he wrote Pepys. 12 

It was anything but satisfactory to Samuel Pepys. The 
answer must have tended to confirm all his own tormenting 
memories. For Seigneley told Brisbane he had never had any 
manner of correspondence with Pepys either good or bad 
"since the time he [Seigneley] had been sent to England to 
regulate the common affairs of the Fleets [1671]" and that 
Pepys "did then communicate the number and strength of 
the ships to which the French squadron was to join." 13 (Italics 
added.) 

Which information was exactly what Pepys must have 
feared the Opposition was using to base its case against him. 

It was even more difficult to get anything out of Colbert. 
Pepys had enlisted the help of his brother-in-law, Baity St. 
Michel, sending him across the Channel to gather whatever 
evidence he could. Brisbane was outraged when this young 
man, accused as he was of piracy, turned up at the Embassy 
expecting introductions to the French First Minister! 14 

Though the egregious Baity got to Colbert, the great man 
did not deign to answer him, and if he replied to Pepys, his 
letter is not with all the others preserved in the Rawlinson 



COUNTER ATTACK f 323 

collection. But after the visit he sent somewhat startling in- 
structions to Barillon, his Ambassador in London. 

Referring to Balty's request that he "justify the innocence" 
of the two men accused by Scott, Colbert asked Barillon if 
Deane "is that same man who brought over the yachts for 
King Louis, and in that case, tell him that when he gets out 
of prison ... if he wishes to come over to France [passer 
en France] he will be very well treated/' 15 A curiously 
ambiguous offer, for the Opposition might easily construe 
this as a reward for past services to the French. 

Undaunted by his initial lack of success, Pepys redoubled 
his efforts. Letters flew all over the Continent, suggesting 
avenues of crime to explore: to James Houblon, a Whig 
merchant friend in Amsterdam requesting "confirmation" of 
John's "counterfeiting a deed or some kind of forgery," 16 
appeals to Sir John Werden, the Duke of York's secretary in 
Brussels, concerning John's "infamy and being hung in 
effigy," 17 to Captain Gunman, in Rotterdam, for news as to 
Colonel Scott's "debts, cheats and other villainies, public or 
private"; 18 even to strangers he addressed urgent requests 
and would not be rebuffed. Three letters went to Mr. Grey de 
Stamford, the Earl of Berkshire's heir, who replied curtly, at 
last, that he had indeed seen the map with a blue silk fringe; 
that the Earl his uncle had known John a very long time and 
that John visited him very often; but that he (Stamford) had 
met John only twice. 19 This was of no assistance whatever to 
the prisoners in the Tower. 

These first replies indeed furnished nothing of an incrimi- 
nating nature. The writers assured Pepys of their full sym- 
pathy, their dismay at his plight, they promised to help Baity 
to the best of their ability. But evidence, such as Pepys 
wanted, there seemed none. 

Baity labored in Paris, costing his brother-in-law hundreds 
of pounds. It was the first time he had ever been abroad on 
an expense account and the experience went to his head. He 
rashly spoke of engaging a French tutor for his small son 



324 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

... a suggestion which threw the economy-minded Pepys 
into a fury of apprehension. As to Scott's business, Baity ad- 
mitted "he could find little or nothing in the matter/' 20 

Then one day in June his watch stopped and he was 
directed to a small shop off the rue de la Monnaie. Talking 
garrulously about his affairs to the watchmaker, he learned, 
to his unconcealed amazement and delight that the man not 
only knew John personally but that John had actually lived 
in his house for nearly two years, and had left "without 
paying all his rent," added the watchmaker, whose observant 
eye could not have failed to take in his visitor's good cloth 
coat. Some of John's papers and maps were still in a drawer, 
and the man suggested that Baity might like to look at them. 
"You may find something for your purpose," 21 he proposed 
significantly. 

Baity had stumbled on John Joyne. 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

1. Fr. Mar. Docs., B*, V, ff 26-39; 42-51, r, v. 

2. Colenbrander, Besch. mit. Vreemde arch., 125-6-7. 

3. Fr. Mar. Docs., B2, XXXI, ff 279, 297, passim. 

4. Clement, Lettres Instructions Memoires de Colbert, III, Pt. I, 556. 

5. Fr. Mar. Docs., R3, XIX, f 256. 

6. Ibid.; Ibid., fi2, XXVI, ff 280, 285. 

7. Ibid., XXXI, f 253, r, v. 

8. Rawl. MSS., A 188, f 317. 

9. Ibid., A 194, ff 1, 2, 6, r, v, 7, 12, 13. 

10. Morn. MS., I, f 151. 

11. Ibid.,i 152, 153. 

12. Rawl. MSS., A 188, 151. 

13. Ibid. 

14. Ibid., A 194, ff91, 93. 

15. Fr. Mar. Docs., R2, XLI, f 538. 

16. Rawl. MSS., A 194, f 5. 

17. Ibid., f 5 v. 

18. I bid., A 188, 313. 

19. Ibid., f 181. 

20. Mit. Ch. Pro., C 8, 376, No. 69. 

21. Ibid. 



CHAPTER XLIII 



THE AFFIDAVITS 

"An honest use of one villain to discover the iniquity of 
another." 

Samuel Pepys to Baity St. Michel, 
Rawl. MSS., A 194, f 50. 



THE ENCOUNTER with Joyne proved of lasting consequence 
to John Scott, for this shady character was the fount of most 
of the legends which tarnish Scott's name. Baity was over- 
joyed at his find. 

He promptly paid fifty pounds for John's back rent and 
assured Joyne that "he would be thankfully and liberally 
gratified and rewarded" for anything he could disclose about 
his former lodger. 1 Joyfully he wrote his brother-in-law about 
the great discovery and within ten days came Pepys' letter to 
Joyne, thanking him and inviting him to come to London as 
defense witness. 

But Joyne, who had at first professed the greatest readiness 
to help "an innocent man in distress," and had immediately 
volunteered astounding revelations, now became exceedingly 
cautious, realizing, perhaps, that he would have to substantiate 
his tales. He could not possibly leave his business he pleaded, 
he had a wife to consider, his five children to provide for, the 
trip was out of the question. Pepys, pressing for trial and with 
the last days of Trinity Term fast approaching, was frantic 
with impatience. He dispatched to Paris a colleague, Mon- 
sieur Denise, a supply merchant to the French Navy, who 
managed (with what means we do not know) to overcome 

325 



326 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

Joyne's reluctance, and made arrangements for bringing over 
the obsequious watchmaker to whom Pepys' promises now 
"went beyond all that Baity had assured him." 2 

While waiting for Joyne, Pepys followed up the latter's 
leads and tried to pinpoint Scott's movements during the 
month he said he had seen the incriminating papers. But 
who had kept track of the Colonel's travels? Back and forth 
he had ridden, between Paris and Nevers those busy days, 
who could possibly say with certainty where he was, and above 
all, when? Pelissary's widow, disdainful and ailing, fearful of 
answering any questions, had, after endless hesitations, stated 
merely that John did not dine with her husband the night 
Deane had been there. But she would not swear, as Baity 
urged her to do, that John had no familiarity with Pelissary.* 3 

And to complicate Pepys' difficulties, his Counsel made 
clear to him that English law did not permit written evi- 
dence from living witnesses: they were required to appear in 
Court for cross-examination. How could he possibly bring 
over this diffident aging gentlewoman? He felt on much surer 
grounds with a co-operative type like Joyne. 

In a long deposition the watchmaker swore out everything 
he knew of John's activities between 1673 and 1677, as well 
as everything that John, so he said, had ever told him! True 
it is that Joyne had occasionally acted as Scott's interpreter; 
but for the most part Joyne relied upon his own friendly 
sources, the Duke of Buckingham's barber, and Pelissary's 
(discharged) porter, Moreau. With such fountainheads of 
information, he could furnish Pepys with unlimited sug- 
gestions of wrong-doing: the gun-casting experiment was all 
a "cheat"; the chemical formula discussions branded as out- 
right "counterfeiting"; John's making and selling of maps, 



* La Fontaine, Pelissary's footman, swore that Scott often came to M. Pelis- 
sary's house, concerning the making of cannon. And that he, Fontaine, some- 
times fetched Scott to come and speak with Pelissary at Mile, des Moulins* 
house in the rue des Marais. Morn. MS., I, 485. 



THE AFFIDAVITS f 327 

always for evil ends. On this last subject Pepys pressed his 
most searching inquiries. 

There was one map particularly, deposed Joyne, of the 
English coast "looking towards France" about three yards 
long and one and a half wide, fringed on the upper and lower 
edge with blue silk; "showing all the harbor-soundings, the 
islands, rocks, sandbars; their approaches and dangerous 
places, . . ." These markings were "all in French." Monsieur 
La Pointe had worked over this with "great earnestness"; and 
when it was ready, John had taken it by coach to St. Germain; 
and on his return Joyne noted, he was "very flush with 
money." 4 

But Pepys' very zeal to prove John both a traitor and a 
cheat defeated his own ends. He found a witness to swear ("at 
your request") that John had borrowed the deponent's map of 
Shereness, copied it, and offered it to the Prince of Orange 
saying he had made it expressly "to discover England's weak 
places." 5 Yet if it were only a copy of an already available 
map John could hardly be selling secret information. Other 
witnesses, solicited by Pepys, obligingly swore that John told 
them he prepared maps of fortifications for the King of 
France; or showed them estimates, as well as the famous blue- 
fringed chart, telling them these were destined for the French 
King and worthy only of him! 

But would a traitor tell other people about his nefarious 
doings? 

And the indisputable fact remained that when John's 
trunks had been opened at Dover, there, among his papers, 
was the map with the blue silk fringe! 6 

In the face of such conflicting stories Pepys implored Baity 
to get a definitive statement from the man who knew John's 
work best, La Pointe. 7 And this celebrated copyist finally con- 
firmed what Brisbane had already volunteered, that John's 
maps were of historic rather than maritime interest. 8 In a 
frenzy of disbelief, Pepys wrote Brisbane again, asking if John 
could draw at all I 



328 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

It is curious he did not know that the man was Royal 
Geographer. For the rest, it was an age of geographic igno- 
rance; even an Admiralty Secretary seemed unaware that 
map-making entailed some scientific surveys. John had never 
sailed around the English and French coasts as he had in New 
England, in the Caribbean and through all the waterways of 
the United Provinces. Nor had he sought the specialized in- 
formation of local pilots, fishermen, privateers, who had fur- 
nished much of the data that made his Netherlands maps so 
valuable. Apart from these, and from his own New England 
masterpiece, John's work was not original. Most of his charts 
were beautifully colored and decorated enlargements, to 
"horoscamotter de I' argent," as Brisbane put it. 9 

Pepys was equally in the dark about John's work as foreign 
agent. Had he talked with Sir Joseph Williamson, he could 
have learned all about John's activities in the Lowlands. Or 
he could have consulted his old friend Sir John Bankes the 
City merchant-prince for there are at least half a dozen of 
John's letters to the latter among the state papers the two 
men seemed well acquainted. But relying upon Joyne's key- 
hole peepings and concierge gossip, Pepys wrote to the insig- 
nificant James Puckle, in Flanders, and to the self-confessed 
double agent William Carr, who both retailed, about their 
former rival, stories that the record shows as false. 

From Holland, too, came some very uncomplimentary affi- 
davits from certain Dutch citizens. These last, having been 
implored, by Captain Gunman, to recollect (after an interval 
of nearly ten years!) "the ill-behaviour of John Scott," may 
be pardoned for confusing him with William Scott, son of 
the regicide, who had also been an officer and a British agent 
in the Netherlands. 10 This Scott had a long criminal record, 
had served prison sentences in Holland and England, and was 
convicted of treason both to his King, and to his fellow 
countrymen.* 11 



* Wilbur C. Abbott confused these two in his "Colonel" John Scott, and 
Conflicts with Oblivion. 



THE AFFIDAVITS f 329 

With such encouraging material in his possession, Pepys 
began maneuvering his forces for the hoped-for trial. He made 
arrangements for bringing into England some foreign wit- 
nessesa maddeningly expensive task, for trial date had not 
been set, and the Opposition was gleefully doing its best to 
prevent any decision. First to arrive as his guest was Deborah 
Egmont Nederway (now a servant at a Hague Inn), delighted 
no doubt at the chance to get even with the faithless Scott, 
and bubbling over with remembrances of all his doings his 
wild tales of buccaneering and fighting in the West Indies- 
incidents that were to be twisted into charges of his ' 'attacking 
and burning the English coast/' 

From Paris, Pepys invited some of the gun-casting crew, 
but here he ran into fresh dangers. His desperate plight was 
becoming known, as was the fact due to Balty's indiscretions 
that money could be made by speaking against Scott. Henry 
Fielding, one of the group, was brutally frank on the subject: 
"though I know enough of his [John's] villainous practices 
in Holland as well as in France to hang him, yet by God, I 
will discover nothing unless I get something for it," he wrote. 
And he urged his colleague, Sherwin, that "this is the time 
and occasion to make his fortune . . . that he was a Fool 
and an Ass if he did declare anything of his knowledge touch- 
ing the ill practices of said Scott without being first assured 
of the advantage he should make to himself of it/' 12 

Fearful of what his brother-in-law was up to, Pepys sent 
M. Denise to France again, to warn the feckless young man to 
be extremely cautious in dealing with money-seeking appli- 
cants. Baity bitterly resented this seeming distrust. True, he 
had always failed in everything he undertook and had been 
hoisted from job to job by the good-natured Pepys. Naturally 
he was eager to repay past kindnesses, but Baity was also 
extremely anxious to stay in France, well out of reach of any 
possible investigation. That piracy charge still hung over 
him, and this second arrival of Denise looked like a prelude 



330 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

to his own recall something he was determined to prevent 
at all cost. 

The indefatigable Pepys had meanwhile managed to get 
himself and his fellow prisoner discharged from the Tower 
and recommitted to the old Marshalsea prison in Southwark. 
Much more uncomfortable and undistinguished than in the 
aristocratic Tower quarters, he was, nevertheless, now beyond 
the power and privileges of the dread Parliament and his pro- 
fessed enemies, and could make an appeal under common 
law. Very soon the Court yielded to his demand for bail. And 
on a surety of thirty thousand pounds each a sum which 
strained their resources to the very uttermost Pepys and 
Deane were released during the Long Vacation, to the fury 
of London mobs who greeted their freedom with vicious 
lampoons; while Lord Justice Scroggs (who let them out) 
when next he ventured into the City, had a dead dog, with a 
rope round its neck, flung into his coach. 

Deprived of all official duties, the disgraced Secretary re- 
tired in seclusion, and lived for the purpose of destroying 
Scott. It was an all-consuming passion to which he devoted 
the detailed methodical attention he had formerly lavished 
on Naval Affairs. Repeated postponement of Court proceed- 
ings did not deter him, nor the fact that so many of his 
correspondents did not know John and could not have testi- 
fied personally. In defiance of all law (and logic) he tena- 
ciously accumulated his unique collection of affidavits. 

Trial was once again denied him: this time because there 
was no one to present further evidence. John Scott had left 
town; he had gone off to France again with Buckingham. 

The Duke, with his unfailing political bad luck, chose to 
leave England at the very moment the Opposition's fortunes 
seemed brightest. In August, 1679, the King caught a chill 
and suffered a slight stroke. Everywhere the cry arose he had 
been poisoned, and the nation was flung into wildest con- 
fusion. The Country Party's hopes soared. Their candidate 
for the throne, the Duke of Monmouth, the King's eldest 



THE AFFIDAVITS f 531 

bastard, made a regal entry into London; and Shaftesbury, 
who appeared to have the country well behind him, began 
preparations for a nationwide insurrection in favor of the 
charming young man. The government responded by bring- 
ing the Duke of York back from Brussels; and, with so much 
at stake, Buckingham and John came hurrying home. But the 
magnificent royal constitution defeated all expectations. By 
September the King was himself again, and the struggle over 
the Stuart succession resumed its old ferocity. 

In an effort to regain lost territory, Charles sent both 
claimants to the throne out of England, and, after a haggling 
deal for a subsidy from Louis, prorogued parliament. He was 
seizing the offensive and fighting back against the Opposition: 
Shaftesbury was still too powerful to be struck down, but an 
arrest warrant was issued against Bucks "for alienating the 
hearts of the King's subjects." 

Now this was a charge Pepys might rightly have levelled 
against John. Lobbyist or publicity man (as we should call 
him today) for the Opposition, his job was carrying to the 
people's level all the republican talk which so appalled 
Charles as he stalked Westminster galleries. The Parlia- 
mentary Record Hansard dared hardly mention such anti- 
monarchical sentiment. One must read the Venetian ambas- 
sador's dispatches to realize how virulent this was, how far 
the Exclusionists went, and how many foreign dignitaries 
were expecting a republic in England.* The King knew he 
could never check this torrent in full flood. It was for this 
same reason he left open field to Titus Oates: Full gallop, 
give them their head, they were easier to rein when tired, was 
his policy. And by skillful play of prorogation and dissolution 
he resisted exclusion, fought off civil war and brought his 
rebellious parliament under control. 

This same tolerance and political acumen saved Bucking- 
ham: his arrest warrant was never served. The Duke retired 



* "Unless something very vigorous be done within a few days, the monarchy 
is gone." Duke of York to the Prince of Orange. HMC Foljambe, p. 131. 



332 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

for a while to his little 'Versailles' at Cliveden, and was soon 
back in London again, to squander his talents on one of the 
most incongruous roles of all his checkered career. 

To whip up waning anti-popish fervor and to keep the 
political pot a-boiling, the Green Ribbon Club organized the 
first of its famous Pope Burnings; and the Duke, experienced 
in theatrical matters, was credited with having written and 
staged this macabre pageant. Nor is it unreasonable to sup- 
pose that "Buckingham's John,'* himself no mean showpian, 
assisted him. 

For five hours the torch-lit actors and mechanized puppets 
paraded from Aldgate to Temple Bar, followed by one hun- 
dred thousand Protestant fanatics. So great had been the 
build-up for the show that the King himself and the French 
ambassador were among the spectators, cautiously disguised 
and hidden. Godfrey's death was sensationally featured; a 
waxen bloody corpse on a great white horse, supported by the 
Jesuit Murderer, complete with crucifix and crimson sword. 
Black-robed bellmen tolled the story; monks, friars, cardinals, 
streamed through the streets, distributing pardons, brandish- 
ing phials of poison; the darkness rang with shouts of "NO 
POPERY! EXCLUSION! A Shaftesbury! A Buckingham!'' 
The Pope's effigy in triple tiara raised the mobs to delirium. 
Borne aloft in his golden chair, his sceptre blotched with 
guilty bloodstains, his right hand (clockworked) raised in 
jerky benediction, he was surrounded by waxen nuns his 
Courtesans in Ordinary; while the Pope's Whore attended 
the Inquisitor-General, in full panoply of revolting torture 
instruments. 13 

A crude mock trial climaxed the procession; then the Pope 
was suspended above a giant bonfire. And as the "flames of 
hell" shot upwards, shrieks and wails rent the air as the 
myriad cats, stuffed in his vast belly, burned to death in 
hideous agony, providing the final thrill for the maddened 
crowds. The spectacle of popery thus triumphantly destroyed 
was designed to fortify Protestant belief and spur the people's 



THE AFFIDAVITS f 333 

continued resistance to tyranny. But Samuel Pepys made no 
effort to join the throngs; he had lost his old relish for street 
shows and plays. He paid no heed to politics of the day, if, 
indeed, he was aware of impending constitutional changes. 
He had never been a Party man and regarded partisan 
intrigues with disdain. He served the King, the rest were 
rogues. And just now he was, he felt sure, about to catch the 
greatest rogue of them all. 

John Joyne had finally arrived in London and had con- 
sented to shadow John Scott. 

Pepys was teaching him how to keep a diary. 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

1. Mit. Ch. Pro., C 8, 376, No. 69. 

2. Ibid. 

3. Rawl. MSS., A 194, 73. 

4. Ibid., ff 232-33. 

5. Ibid., A 175, 22. 

6. Ibid., S 2*1, 163. 

7. Ibid., A 194, f 139. 

8. Ibid., A 190, f 117. 

9. Morn. MS., I, 152. 

10. Rawl. MSS., A 194, ff 6, 118, 158, 109, 111, 118. 

11. SPD Entry Bk., 28, f 11; CSP Dom., 1664-65, pp. 383, 500; Ibid., 
1666, pp. 318, 342, 457; ibid., 1672, p. 24. 

12. Morn. MS., I, f 583. 

13. Chapman, Grt. Villiers, pp. 257-60. 



CHAPTER XLIV 



JOYNE'S JOURNAL 



For among friends 'twere inequality 

To think one should be blind and 't 'other see. 

Duke of Buckingham. 



THIS CURIOUS DOCUMENT,* preserved among Pepys' personal 
papers in Cambridge, covers the days Joyne trailed Scott, and 
has been described by the historian who first used itf as "a 
unique record of a rogue's own view of the London under- 
world . . . almost as though Lockit or Filch had kept a diary." 

As it is the only eyewitness account of John's activities it 
is certainly worth studying in detail, although whether it 
really reflects the underworld is open to question. True, there 
are scenes in certain low political taverns and coffeehouses. 
Joyne never fails to mention them and tell at length when 
and what John drank, and where they all pissed against the 
wall, but similar habits and worse are down in Pepys' Diary 
too, and surely this did not constitute the underworld. 

How much credence can be given these pages is a much 
more interesting question. These are the jottings of a paid 
informer, of a needy, ignorant man who could best please by 
recounting the worst, yet who so little understood the purport 
of his job that there are endless passages of his own meagre 



* Morn. MS., I (Pepysian MS. 2881), ff 285-328. Published by the Uni- 
versity of California Press, June, 1959. 

t Bryant. The Years of Peril, XI, 294-302. 



334 



JOYNE'S JOURNAL f 335 

adventures in London on the days that he failed to spot his 
quarry. But Pepys, in this fight for his life, could afford to 
overlook no possible weapon. 

The Journal begins as the two men met in Drury Lane on 
November 26, 1679, and the first thing Joyne noticed was that 
John was without his sword an unusual (perhaps significant?) 
occurrence, since, after an absence of four years this is what 
immediately caught his eye. There are mutual greetings, 
Joyne explaining he has come to London to collect a debt, 
and they stroll through Covent Garden to Major Wildman's 
house in Queens Street where John had spent the night. Joyne 
does not recognize the name nor what Wildman stands for 
(he tells Pepys it was Major Williams) but one observation 
does reveal John's familiarity with the place, for while drink- 
ing with Wildman's son, John calls for a crust of bread. The 
men sit till midnight, talking colonial affairs, . . . "relating 
to East or West Indies," writes Joyne, obviously out of his 
depth, though he devoted several lines to John's introduction 
of himself as "an old friend and the best watchmaker in the 
world." 

Their relationship is quickly established: John sends Joyne 
on an errand the fellow always made himself useful. After 
some hesitation and time spent disguising his handwriting, 
John gives Joyne a letter to deliver to Lady Vane (follows a 
wordy paragraph about her house-porter at St. Giles Church- 
yard and the tip Joyne is to give him). Then, after drinking 
the lady's health "in a pott of ale" the two part agreeing to 
meet next day at 3 o'clock. 

That afternoon they walk through Paul's Churchyard to 
Cheapside, greeting four or five young dandies who ask Scott 
what he has done with his periwig ... he having pulled 
it off and crammed it in his pocket, declaring it was too hot. 
"Why," said John, "to show you I have not lost it, here it is," 
patting his coat while one of them, to make sure, tries to get 
at it. Two of them accompany our pair to Bow Lane, then 
leave, calling good night to Scott. "Who are they?" asks 



336 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

Joyne. "Young parliamentarians/' says John. Lord Wharton's 
son was in black, and the other was Lord Sand's son. "I pre- 
serve my interest with the sober men of Parliament by 
espousing the interest of the People and with those mad 
fellows by drinking," and John lifted his hand to his mouth 
in vivid gesture. "And so, I have all Parliament to espouse 
my interest." (This does not sound too much like John's 
verbal style, but his spy was of limited education and vocabu- 
lary.) Joyne remembers "at length," however, all that John 
had told him about Lady Vane, and about that letter he had 
sent, unsigned, for it was supposed to be an anonymous con- 
firmation of the story Lady Vane's daughter invented that 
John "was that Colonel Scott* that commanded the Duke of 
Monmouth's regiment in France and who was so be-poxed 
that he was not able to stand before his company. "Now when 
this is done," explained Scott, "I shall find ways by My Lord 
Arlington and otherwise of proving I was not that Colonel 
Scott, then I shall come the sooner to the end of my desire 
with My Lady when I shall have brought it about that this 
story shall be thought to have proceeded only from the daugh- 
ter's malice." For daughter highly disapproved of her mother's 
"particular kindness" for John, who, apparently, was con- 
fident he could get Arlington to second his little jape with the 
romantically inclined Lady Vane. 

Joyne and John do some shopping, then call on William 
Penn, the great Quaker, who is out; John leaves a message he 
will be at Appleby's that night (one of the much-frequented 
political coffeehouses where he lobbies) though Joyne, of 
course, hasn't a notion of what his work is. At the Dog and 
Dripping Pan John inquires of his landlord if he has had any 
callers, then repairs to Appleby's where he makes his host sit 
and drink with them; whispering to Joyne how he uses this 
man to repeat everything he's told. Talk turns of course to 



* CSP Dom., 1675-76, p. 101; Entry Rook 41. Lt. Col. Scott of Royal 
English Regiment in France, Archives de la Guerre A 1 vol. 476, No. 253; 
Vol. 473, No. 237. 



JOYNE'S JOURNAL f 337 

politics. A Doctor of Divinity "who showed great servility to 
Scott" brought the latest news and they all fell to discussing 
chances of Parliament's recall "the Salve [sic] of the Nation," 
Joyne notes. An old Cromwellian commander was with them; 
and a curious individual coming to summon John to Perm 
joins them, without removing his hat. "What sort of rascal is 
that?" asks the astonished Joyne. John explains it is the 
Quaker solicitor of Penn "the King of the Quakers. For 
Presbyterians have Kings, and Anabaptists have their Kings 
and so we have a great many Kings in this country and all 
very great ones, I can assure you," replies John, who sounds 
a mite sarcastic about the self-importance of the varying 
Sects. Joyne gossips over his sweet wine with the messenger, 
then everyone leaves, John going to Penn, and Joyne late as 
it is to report to Pepys. So we never learn what the future 
founder of Pennsylvania talked over with John Scott, though 
it is pretty safe to assume it was about conditions in North 
America. 

Next morning Joyne is again at Pepys', catching up on his 
delation. He now describes in detail the room in Wildman's 
house (he has the name right, too) and how young Wildman 
had told John his father was at Westminster but if John 
would stay to dinner there would be a piece of good venison- 
matters of no interest at all to the worried Secretary, who, 
together with Deane, M. Denise, and a Captain Brown, spends 
the whole day coaching Joyne as to the kind of information 
they want. 

John is out when Joyne calls next day, but the landlord 
recognizing him, sends him over to Newman's Coffeehouse, 
one of John's regular haunts in Talbot Court, and here Joyne 
finds him with a thin-faced man in an old blue-trimmed cam- 
paign coat breakfasting "on Purle and three or foure small 
redd herrings," a detail of vital importance immediately 
noted in his journal! The talk is all of the Pope-Burning and 
the Pope's great speech before the bonfire. Joyne, agog with 
zeal and curiosity, asks who John's visitor is, and, while easing 



338 t THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

himself downstairs, addresses this stranger and hears John 
order him "to give satisfaction about a horse/' "You have a 
horse?" he asks. But no, says John, he had left one at Gravel- 
end the time he was mistaken for a Jesuit and he wants to 
know when the man is returning there. It was the Chief 
Gravesend Searcher, "a rogue/ 1 John tells Joyne, "but fit to 
be made occasional use of" and he asks Joyne if the man had 
mentioned Pepys. 

Then off the two go together, to a laundress John's cfavate 
is dirty but the woman tells him he can't have another till 
tomorrow down Cannon Street, all the people asking John 
for political news and he telling them that Parliament is 
about to sit "very suddenly," writes Joyne. Some are delighted 
and promise John a quart of sack, were it true. "I can assure 
you it's true and will be the salve [sic] of the nation," replies 
John. On they go to a furrier John leaves an otter skin 
for a muff; to a chemist, "a Roman Catholic . . . but an 
honest fellow," volunteers John, and Joyne puts down this 
fact twice; it is the nearest he can bring John to treasonable 
utterance. The red-faced doctor they greet belongs to the 
College of Surgeons John tells everything the disjointed 
diary is crammed with trivial detail and so they arrive at 
Lady Vane's, where John gives his companion sixpence to 
deliver another (anonymous) letter, urging him to wait first 
"a large quarter of an hour/' (It looks almost as if he were 
testing Joyne's dependability, for John was visiting the lady 
when the letter was brought in.) 

Joyne, writing up his diary, recalls their preliminary con- 
versation about the lady's good estate. John said he could 
have been chosen M.P. in three counties, but with no means 
he would never be elected, though if he were, "he was sure he 
would be able to do more than ever was done by any one 
man yett or words to that purpose," writes Joyne. And here 
his description really sounds like John! 

The young reporter hangs around Lady Vane's noting that 
two men entered, a Mr. Wentworth, M.P. (whom Joyne had 



JOYNE'S JOURNAL f 339 

once overcharged for watch repairs in Paris) and one Harring- 
ton, whom Joyne recognized as the priest-clad figure known, 
across the Channel, as Benson and sometimes Wilson. It was 
in fact the Earl of Shaftesbury's personal agent, a good 
acquaintance of John's, familiar with all the latest Paris 
gossip about the latter and ready to assure Lady Vane that 
Scott was certainly not the rogue certain fellows there were 
reporting him to be! (Whatever must Pcpys have thought of 
this entry?) 

John gave Joync the slip after leaving the party and Joyne, 
finding Pepys out too when he called, ambled forth again to 
seek Scott, ending the night somewhat unaccountably at 
Southwark, dead drunk, we must suppose, for next morning 
the fastidious Pepys, seeing him so bedraggled and dirty, 
sends him home to shift and shave. But Joyne was worth his 
pay: he did dig up news. That day he surprised John reading 
a letter from France, which had reached him indirectly. (John 
had his own means of communication just as of travel.) The 
letter warned that Baity St. Michel had offered the writer, 
D'Allais, a Parisian language teacher, two thousand pounds 
"to make discoveries and help him to John's maps." D'Allais 
had assured Baity he "would not betray a friend"; while 
Foster (a debauched young Englishman of very good family) 
in the same manner just laughed at Balty's questions about 
John's affairs, and his visit to St. Maures with the D. of B. 
D'Allais gave further information about Sherwin's "dis- 
coveries" touching John's vilification of the English King and 
Balty's assurances that for the two thousand pounds in ques- 
tion he could give good security on Paris merchants "for 
P. and D. were worthy gentlemen" that B. St. M. could well 
aver. 

Joyne had to read this letter three times and then have all 
the puzzling initials explained to him by John who angrily 
swore St. Michel was a rogue, a Quartermaster in the Fleet, 
or something, and that he would have the place taken from 



340 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

him just as soon as parliament met, he would be revenged, by 
God! and would claw off these dogs! 

Fuming and furious, John goes to his M.P. friend Went- 
worth, who was at Westminster, it being last day of Term, 
exchanging greetings en route with Sir John Narbrough. 
John, to Joyne's inevitable question, declares that ''this is the 
greatest sea captain in the world ... he made the map of 
the Magellan straits" (Joyne writes Mogdelaine). "That you 
copied?" asked Joyne accusingly. (Like Pepys, Joyne seemed 
to think that any map based upon an existing map, was a 
"cheat.") "Yes," answered John ("as I have heard him say at 
other times" adds Joyne). "I sold that map for 500; and 
My Lord Arlington cheated the King and sold it for 1000." 
They walk to St. Giles and John goes in to Lady Vane, telling 
Joyrie to wait. The latter awaits for an hour and a half, buys 
a drink, but John docs not reappear. 

Joyne did not spot his quarry again till Friday, December 
5th, when he found John on his lodgings staircase talking to 
a young wench. Joyne goes up to John's room where the latter 
puts on a fine velvet coat, talking the while about his periwig 
and pulling from his pocket a small bag containing a brush 
with which he blackened his eyebrows and beard. 

Amazed, Joyne asks why, and John explains it's a kind of 
disguise. Taking off his fair wig he puts on a black one, and 
even Joyne, prepared for a change, was astonished to see such 
a transformation. 

Joyne informs him he is leaving soon for France and John 
good-naturedly says he will get him a passage on some ship, 
and, in that case, he forbore to change the black ribbon on 
his muff for a red one as he had intended, for, he explained, 
he could not go among those shipmasters looking too gaudy! 
John says he is dining with Wildman and would meet Joyne 
later, but he did not keep his appointment, and Joyne, though 
he visited John's lodgings several times, did not see him again 
until Dec. llth, when their private talk was interrupted by 
Newman's boy whispering to John that Benson is waiting for 



JOYNE'S JOURNAL f 341 

them at the Coffeehouse. They go over and Joyne effusively 
greets Benson and they all fall to talking of old Paris days. 
But in come the news sheets and the others switch immedi- 
ately to politics. Newman regales them with gossip of Samuel 
Pepys, who "once made everybody stoop to him and now he 
was grown very humble"; but John was pitiless and called 
him and Deane rogues; railed at the two thousand pound 
bribe again and swore he would "claw them off." 

Joyne, to stress his own importance, tells Newman that 
"nobody knoweth the Colonel better than I do/' and New- 
man replies that the Colonel "was a very honest gentleman 
who loved his country." Joyne then offers his "services" to 
Benson anything in France he could do he was ever ready, 
and leaving Monday but Benson does not need him. 

They drink three bottles of sack together and Benson and 
John go off in a coach with two women. Joyne, who had 
stopped to buy a lobster, tries to accompany them, but they 
drive away, laughing. To those two professionals, his clumsy 
spying must have been all too obvious. Joyne is left behind 
crestfallen, clutching his lobster. 

But the watchmaker-detective is undaunted. Back he goes 
to Newman's next day. No Scott but he smokes a pipe of 
tobacco with mine host and a stranger, all three gossiping 
about John. This seedy third individual says his name is Jacob 
Milbourne and that he'd like to get better acquainted with 
Joyne, whom he bids tell Scott that his friend is here. (Mil- 
bourne was no friend of John's, but of Nathan Seeley, the 
Hartford marshall who, years before, had arrested John at 
Setauket!) Milbourne had watched John's trial in 1664 and 
later had had a glimpse of him in Barbados where Milbourne, 
who formerly had been Thomas Olcott's servant, had been 
transferred to John Crowe, Scott's host there. 

Milbourne takes in all the talk about D'Allais' warning 
John of those "trying to do him an injury," and later pumps 
Newman for further information. Joyne learns of this when 
Newman cautions him that Milbourne is a rogue. Follows a 



342 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

long tedious account of Joyne's drinking with Harrington, 
and nine further pages of just how and why he did not see 
John. December 14th Joyne calls at the Dog and Dripping 
Pan where the maid tells him that John's lady (meaning Lady 
Vane) is dead! She died the day before and Scott had immedi- 
ately gone out accompanied by the landlord (here follows an 
interminable story about this honest fellow whom John had 
once set up with four hundred pounds from a charity fund). 

No sign of our hero till late on Monday when he comeS into 
Appleby's, very melancholy. Joyne sympathizes over his loss. 
"It's the greatest loss in the world, a Devil of a loss," laments 
John, and Joyne comforts him with a Portugal orange, "he 
telling me that the palate of his mouth was down/' Even so, 
he does not forget about Joyne's ship and goes to a broker 
next door to make arrangements about it, promising to dine 
with Joyne another time. That dinner was a memorable 
event (of which much more later). It was the culminating 
point of all Joyne's efforts to entrap John, and showed John 
at one of his most lamentable and reckless moments. 

He broke numerous subsequent appointments, obviously 
disgusted at being trailed. Besides there was work to doeven 
if marriage hopes were shattered. 

Joyne (after a boring account of his departure plans) arrives 
at Newman's one evening when John is speaking at a "con- 
venticle." Here might have been trenchant material for 
Samuel Pepys; this could have revealed what John was doing 
and how far he was committed to Opposition policies or 
anything else of a serious political nature. But Joyne naturally 
muffs this opportunity he was incapable of seizing essentials. 
From a neighboring room he heard little and could only 
report that the talk was "sometimes about the King and some- 
times about Parliament and sometimes about Law but I could 
gather nothing from it." John comes out after his speech, 
shakes Joyne's hand, but will not drink with him. 

There is another broken rendezvous and, at the last mo- 
ment, Joyne, surrounded by his baggage, waits nearly three 



JOYNE'S JOURNAL f 343 

hours in Billingsgate for John to appear. He never comes and 
Joyne, after a fruitless search, learns he is once more with 
Major Wildman. The two never meet again till February 
13th when Joyne espies John "by chance ... at a distance, 
twice in the same day but spoke to him not/' 

So ends this remarkable writing, with its pretentious 
promise of "all that past between myself and Colonel Scott/' 
and its puerile ending on a note of failure. 

Two items of interest Pepys had learned: Baity was betray- 
ing him in Paris with open bribes, and Milbourne looked 
like a very promising witness. 

But in the great struggle with John Scott, Joyne's Journal 
was only a blunted sword. 



CHAPTER XLV 



THE LEGEND OF JOHN SCOTT 



He that questioneth much shall learn much . . . especially 
if he apply his questions to the skill of the persons whom 
he asketh. 

Francis Bacon. 



THE AUTUMN MONTHS of 1679 were full of turmoil and up- 
heaval, though Samuel Pepys, still held at the mercy of the 
Court, seemed unaware of the shifting political scene. 

In late October Charles dismissed the Earl of Shaftesbury 
as President of the Council, and "little Sincerity" as he was 
nicknamed, went straight from Whitehall to his "Republi- 
can" residence in St. Giles, there to be rapturously welcomed 
by the City, and publicly banqueted by Prince Rupert, who 
had no use for the King's financial dependence upon France. 
To many Englishmen the Country Party was the Patriotic 
Party, the side which defended liberty, property and the 
people's rights against royal prerogative and possible foreign 
domination. With Shaftesbury now giving it his undivided 
attention, he quickly out-maneuvered Buckingham, and 
claimed full direction of its policies. Whereas the Duke had 
maintained his position by erratic brilliance, Shaftesbury was 
the diligent committee chairman, the untiring reader of end- 
less reports; and John Scott and Major Wildman, while the 
Duke was still under a cloud, began working more closely 
with this other great leader. 

Shaftesbury had encouraged John's suit with Lady Vane. 
It was just the thing, he declared, to set him up with the 
material backing for a parliamentary career (the Earl should 



THE LEGEND OF JOHN SCOTT f 345 

surely know he had made three most advantageous mar- 
riages). Under his remarkable administrative ability, John 
met the principal Party men, sat in on all their "consults and 
cabals" and participated in Party rallies. 1 He saw the rise of 
the Green Ribbon Club to such significance that it almost 
usurped the functions of parliament. 

Meeting in the King's Head Tavern, at the Strand corner 
of Chancery Lane, club members were drawn from every class 
and condition: landed statesmen, country gentlemen, consti- 
tutional Republicans pious forerunners of the revolution as 
well as outright seditionists like Ferguson the Plotter, sworded 
pastor and virulent pamphleteer, who lived only to plot, and 
outlived them all. The Club was the source of most of Charles' 
troubles. It could make and unmake politicians, sway elec- 
tions, muster and manipulate the Thames-side mobs Shaftes- 
bury's ten thousand "Brisk Boys" wore green ribbons in their 
hats for "street engagements." But the Club's most powerful 
weapon was moulding public opinion. However dubious this 
last activity and when the Licencing Act expired, its libels 
knew no bounds it was, nevertheless, preparing the way for 
popular self-government. Shaftcsbury's agents swarmed into 
the halls and lobbies of parliament, whipping up waverers to 
a division, feeding members trenchant argument for debate. 
They acted as a clearinghouse for all the latest news, received 
and issued orders, starting rumors in the coffeehouses that 
spread like quicksilver through the whole country. The 
Opposition maintained an overwhelming parliamentary ma- 
jority. Three times it brought in the Exclusion Bill until 
silenced by prorogation. Now it was flooding Westminster 
with petitions for reassembly of parliament, and it was from 
this monster petition campaign, countered by addresses from 
those who "abhorred" the appeal, that arose the party names 
Whig and Tory we remember to this day.* 



* The petitioners called the "abhorrers" Tories, a slang term for Irish 
Catholic highwaymen: the Tories counterattacked hy calling petitioners 
WhiRgamores or Whigs, after the Scottish fanatical Convenanters, whose 
rebellion Momnouth had just put doun at Bothuell Brig. 



346 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

Unrecognized, almost unseen behind this creation of party 
politics, was the modest figure of John Locke, Shaftesbury 's 
personal physician, companion, and political mentor. From 
their Oxford student days, when the young nobleman had 
recognized the other's promise of brilliance and lack of 
fortune, an affectionate intimacy existed, which deepened 
when Anthony Ashley Cooper (as he was then) felt he owed 
his very life to Locke's daring surgical intervention following 
a serious accident which almost terminated the noble cajeer. 

Lord Ashley took Locke permanently into his household 
and let him handle the correspondence of the important 
Board of Trade and Plantations. It was while Locke was thus 
employed that Ashley's attention was drawn first to John 
Scott, when the latter had impressed Board members with his 
vivid knowledge of colonial affairs. Scott and Locke, then, 
may have known each other as early as 1663. 

The bold navigator, merchant seaman, youthful Long 
Island landowner and magistrate could have been a resound- 
ing anvil on which the cloistered, dependent Locke might 
have hammered out some of the ideas which Scott developed 
independently. 

When Ashley, as Earl of Shaftesbury, was raised to the 
Chancellorship Locke labored with him more closely, and 
John's contact with the two men the restless ambitious states- 
man and the lofty, clear-thinking philosopher was a high- 
water mark in his own political career. 

Shaftesbury, struck by John's energy and virtuosity, "made 
frequent use of him, promised him great rewards and prefer- 
ments, that he should be Governor of the Isle of Wight with 
a settlement of 1200 annually." 2 He made John what we 
should call today public relations officer for the Duke of 
Monmouth, let him manage the Irish Witnesses (of which 
more later), and publicize the History of the Black Box which 
would have ended forever the Succession crisis. Such dazzling 
promises were sufficient to kindle John's customary ardor in 



THE LEGEND OF JOHN SCOTT f 347 

this mighty conflict whose outcome would decide the future 
of the kingdom, and the fate of world Protestantism. 

And all this while, Samuel Pepys was preparing the legend 
of John Scott's life. It was ludicrous as well as tragic that at 
the very moment of John's participation (as however minor 
a figure) in events of national importance that his life story 
was being written by humble creatures avid for gain. Jacob 
Milbourne so delighted Pepys with "his readiness to give 
evidence" arid discover John's "infamy" on the other side of 
the Atlantic, that after hearing the story he sent the man to 
the Duke of York. 

Overawed by the illustrious presence this ignorant servant 
liberally sprinkled his truly fantastic recital of John's early 
life with extenuating "so I heard"-s and "so it was generally 
discoursed." It was he who furnished the piquant detail that 
John "cheated an Indian queen of a tract of land whose name 
was Sunksqua," 3 an item that has found its way into every 
history book mentioning John. 

Colonel Edward Sackville, Pepys' old friend, interrogated 
Milbourne at length, then fashioned his own version of the 
Long Island saga, featuring John "on the gallows, a rope 
about his neck but saved by his hopefulness and brisk parts." 4 

Matthias Nicolls (secretary to, not a relative of, Governor 
Nicolls) added his quota to John's boyhood exploits, endorsed 
by Pepys as "a historic account/' 5 In ten long pages which 
trail off illegibly and are finished in another's handwriting 
with apologies for "repetitions, etc." we are treated to remi- 
niscences of someone describing events allegedly happening 
twenty years previously to a man the writer hardly knew. 
John was "admired and adored by the people," was "some- 
what of a seaman, had a nimble genius though otherwise 
illiterate." There is a garbled account of the trial at Hartford 
the only time Matthias ever saw John also damaging allega- 
tions of John's Long Island land deals including reference to 
that phantom document, his "pretended perpetuity." At the 
time Matthias wrote, he himself owned some of John's former 



348 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

land, and would have been the last to say anything that might 
lead to a scrutiny or possible rectification of the deeds.* 
(Appendix L). 

More special pleading came from Governor Thomas Love- 
lace, unexpectedly back from America on his own affairs. His 
affidavit concerning John was accompanied by an abject 
appeal to Pepys for help, together with a petition to the Duke 
of York which Lovelace begged Pepys to forward and to 
foster. The writer stated he was "suffering and indigent" 
. . . was "willing to do anything" owing to the loss of his 
Staten Island estate, seized for debt. He enclosed the deeds of 
the Gotherson land purchases and other papers, previously 
procured by his brother, the late Governor Francis Lovelace; 
and included an abstract of them which was practically a 
lawyer's brief proving a case against John. In some instances 
he departed from the facts even contained in the very papers 
he forwarded. On many details particularly John's alleged 
treatment of Gotherson's son Lovelace's testimony contra- 
dicts that of Dorothea Gotherson the only one among all the 
persons questioned by Pepys who really knew John. Her long 
letters 6 answering specific questions were naturally ignored 
by Pepys at the time, since they disturbed the picture he was 
building. They have been curiously overlooked by historians, 
following the lead of G. D. Scull, first American writer to 
make use of the Pepysian affidavits. He disposes of Dorothea 
by suggesting she was distraught and did not know what she 
was talking about. 

To elicit information, Pepys did not hesitate to refer to his 
own great "power of appointment," especially when dealing 
with Navy Personnel. He wrote peremptorily to Captain Dyre 
ordering him to "collect the legend of Scott's life" 7 and en- 
closing the details furnished by Matthias Nicolls. Dyre ful- 
filled the command without difficulty, naturally, and returned 



* Matthias received a grant of the Setauket land as a "gratification." 
Thompson, History of Long Island, I, 411. 



THE LEGEND OF JOHN SCOTT f 349 

it with most obsequious assurances of duty, etc., etc., adding, 
on his own account, that John had also "most miserably 
deluded, deceived and abused Lady Vane." 8 

Pepys' former clerk, William Hewer, deposed that "John 
Scott held dangerous correspondence with foreign powers 
and that he made draughts of several of His Majesty's sea- 
board towns in order to the destroying of the same," 9 informa- 
tion that any court would disregard as incompetent and im- 
material for Hewer had never met John, had no familiarity 
with his correspondence and maps, so could not possibly tell 
for whom, or what purpose, they were intended. 

In his painstaking efforts to prove John wrong on each and 
every count, Pepys himself makes curious errors. On the back 
of two deeds concerning John's sale to Gotherson of one 
hundred, and fifteen acres of land respectively, Pepys en- 
dorses it as fifteen hundred acres . . . quite a slip. 10 He 
questions John's alleged possession of Ash ford, confusing 
Ashford, Kent, with the Long Island town, known also as 
Setauket. 11 "And was Scot's Hall ever a castle?" he queries 
indignantly forgetting that, as a younger man, he himself 
had often mentioned it in his Diary, 12 had visited Thomas 
Carteret, who married a Scott of Scot's Hall; and that his old 
friend Evelyn had described the place as a "right noble 
seat." 13 

It was to a collateral branch of the Scotts that Pepys 
addressed these family inquiries (to the Rookes, not the 
Scotts there was an Admiral Rooke among them, which per- 
haps prompted this choice). Ignoring his frequent requests at 
first, they finally wrote that "they did not know but did not 
'think' John was kin to them since he had only appeared at 
Scot's Hall and been heard of some years after the Restora- 
tion/' 14 This was inexact. Dorothea Gotherson stated she met 
John at Whitehall, in the presence of the King, early in 1661. 

But since John, as a young boy, had disappeared during the 
Civil War, ignorance of his existence or whereabouts is 
understandable. 



350 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

Mr. Pepys, while never failing to refer in most derogatory 
terms to "our villainous adversary/' "Satan Scott/' "his hellish 
rascality" etc. 15 was, however, becoming somewhat suspicious 
of the sudden influx of incriminating information concern- 
ing John. Why, if all this were true, was the villain still at 
large? 

"Very much do I wonder how he has been able to appear in 
Paris after the practices I find laid to his charge/' he wrote 
Baity. 10 And once again he urges his brother-in-law to have a 
care as to what he "discovers." "So remote an evidence . . . 
a hearsay of a hearsay will never convince or be suffered to 
be read in Court/' he complains. 17 One of the "obliging" 
affidavits in this collection is heavily scored across in red chalk 
as though Mr. Pepys' credulity had been strained beyond all 
limit! 18 

John Joyne was quick to note Pepys' incipient doubts 
(doubts which increased over the years). Fearful of losing so 
lucrative a job he had made three hundred pounds during 
the first five months as private detective, more money than he 
had ever earned in so short a time Joyne made a proposal to 
Pepys. The Secretary should judge for himself John's wicked 
ways, listen to "a narrative of his own Villainies." Joyne 
would inveigle John into some chosen meeting place where 
Pepys should already be hidden, to hear with his own ears the 
utterances of the man's evil tongue. 

So the stage was set for the Great Revelation to take place 
at St. Clements in the Strand, in a little public house kept by 
Joyne's sister. In a dark closet up on the first floor the great 
Mr. Pepys crouched for hours, while the other two sat over 
a dinner of calves' head and bacon, for which the embarrassed 
listener had previously forked out thirty shillings. 

And now we come to the famous drinking scene always 
cited as conclusive proof that John was indeed everything 
that Pepys wanted to believe him to be. It is all down in 
Joyne's Journal. 19 And one wonders how much Joyne with 
his job in the balance egged John on to incriminate himself 



THE LEGEND OF JOHN SCOTT f 351 

and if any of the scene were really written down by Pepys, 
for Joyne had proved he could only report short encounters; 
anything longer got him entangled and unintelligible. 

It was just two days after Lady Vane's death; John, at the 
dinner table, "being mighty full of expressions of his grief," 
was still bemoaning this tragedy, expatiated "on the excel- 
lency of her wit and spirit and her extraordinary love to him," 
("and so ran on from one thing to another impossible to set 
down," wrote Joyne). John read aloud a letter she had written 
him, then burst into a song "which was a kind of a satyr [sic] 
upon Lady Vane's family, her daughters and their husbands 
who all pass under feigned names, among which was Proteus, 
a person who often changed his shape, but whether it was 
himself or no I cannot tell." (It would be too much to expect 
Joyne to follow Lady Vane's classical and literary conceits.) 

John mentions "a well-turned whore he had seen and did 
fall in with in hopes that it would take away his melancholy," 
and Joyne assured him "that if anything would cure melan- 
choly that would." But apparently it had not availed, for 
John's mind still ran on his beloved. 

He told Joyne that Lady Vane had three thousand pounds 
a year which she would have settled on him, since she had 
said that if she could see him "but once a week it would be 
content enough to her." 

"God damn him he would go on in the line and marry her 
sister who's a widow," burst out John, and added that now 
he had got the affections of all the people of England he 
lacked only marrying into parliament; and if he could but 
marry her, there would be a great alliance for him, with 
M.P.'s [who would of their own accord] make it their busi- 
ness to support him for their honor ... if he could marry 
her, he swore, by God he would poison her; he said she was 
a bitch and looked the kind who would give crooked pins in 
bread and butter to children . . . and if the child [meaning 
a niece, upon whom Lady Vane had settled three thousand 
pounds] should ever have smallpox and die, he would bring 



352 t THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

witnesses out of France to swear she had poisoned it. ... 
"And a great deal more in the same vein about that family," 
comments Joyne. 

But affairs of the heart never occupied John for long. 
Drunk as he was, politics were uppermost in his mind. "He 
had words of praise for Sir Thomas Player" (republican 
merchant on the committee examining Navy Office irregu- 
larities), "a very honest worthy man/' and Joyne asks him if 
it was true, as people said, that the King had taken some 
office away from Sir William Waller (the notorious Whig 
magistrate). John said no, not yet, but added that Waller 
was a rogue. 

John said he might be going to France again soon, to which 
Joyne begged him not to, it would be more to his advantage 
to stay in England, he declared. Well, yes, agreed John, unless 
the people of England should desire him to go there for their 
service. . . . "He lacked nothing now" he explained, "but 
to be thrown into the pool of Bcthesda . . . for he had got 
an interest in the People . . . and nobody knew the several 
interests of every sovereign Prince of Europe better than 
he. . . ." 

The rambling talk turned to past events. Scott called Sher- 
win a rogue, said he was a fellow made of soft wax "who 
always took the last impression that was set on him, whether 
it was that of a well-cut seal or of an ordinary farthing." He 
talked of all his gun-making associates, said they were mere 
tools, and if his tools failed him he could not help it; but if 
they had been worth anything the business might have proved 
a great one. . . . He readily confessed he was at St. Denis 
when he wrote letters to Mademoiselle des Moulins, purport- 
ing to come from St. Valois and Abbeville, cursing the rogues 
who told her otherwise. He had never valued himself among 
women on account of his being a beau gargon, he said, but 
upon "knowing himself to have some good humor and some 
sense above the common, and that therefore it was no fault 
in him, whatever it was that they liked in him, if he had the 



THE LEGEND OF JOHN SCOTT f 353 

good fortune of prevailing upon them more than other men." 

Parliament's chance of recall and the Great Petition cam- 
paign next engaged his talk. Nothing could hinder its success, 
John said, for it was not as if they were petitioning for any- 
thing unlawful . . . (even though that might succeed with 
the right men behind it) ... but their goal was <4 agreeable 
to the law," and all they had to do was to observe the regula- 
tion numbers of delivery and not exceed the legal ten. The 
Petition had been drawn up originally in very forthright 
terms referring to the Damned Confounded Plot. 

That, John insisted, was no way to address a King and he 
himself had rewritten it, smoothing its style. (Here Joyne 
adds a memorandum . . . something he had forgotten to tell 
Pepys before, though it was surely of more political interest 
than most of his trivial reporting. John had shown him that 
same petition weeks before, when he was at Newman's Coffee- 
house with Harrington, saying that five hundred well-known 
men were going to sign it, and that it had been given him 
John to "draw it in better form.") 

John had been put out that evening in Newman's Coffee- 
house by the fact that some men had declined to drink the 
Duke of York's health, "for," said John, "I look upon the 
Duke as a great Prince and therefore it is not decent to deny 
his health, though God Damne! I love him as little as any- 
body else and have as much reason to do so." And after having 
revealed this lofty sentiment, John launched into a long 
tirade against the Duke, who had che<vrd him in New Eng- 
land, he declared. But this page in the Journal is so garbled 
as to be almost meaningless, and we have no way of knowing 
if this was Joyne's poor reporting or John getting more and 
more drunk. 

"The Duke of York has some friends in England," con- 
tinued John, "but not as many as he thought he had." Joyne, 
guessing full well the answer, asks who were "his most known 
friends," and John says "That rogue Pepys and the officers 
of the Navy and others." [Their numbers] "must be very 



354 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

inconsiderable," egged on Joyne. "No," said John, "since 
there were a great many officers under them the port officers 
and others where the Duke had the benefit of them, though 
he did not execute them [sic]. 

The two drank more and more, John calling freely for wine 
and tankards of ale, repeating with drunken incoherence, that 
he would marry the sister of his loved one, swearing and 
cursing to an excessive degree, harking back to his sorrow, 
praising again Lady Vane's great spirit. Then suddenly ^drop- 
ping into deep earnestness he said that from being perfectly 
well in appearance one day, while he was with her, she had 
died within a few hours and that by God he feared that they 
had poisoned her. . . . The thought seemed to inflame him. 
He began to rant and rage. He would get her body opened. 
He swore he would revenge her death. And growing more 
wild-eyed, John asked Joyne to go along with him now to set 
fire to the house, pull it about their ears . . . crash it in on 
that daughter and the other married one and her husband. 
... If he had him here he would cut him into a thousand 
pieces! Tossing off more wine, John tearfully remembered 
the little child "that used to hang about him," and when he 
had called, after Lady Vane's death, and the child came 
running to him as it always did, the unmarried daughter 
said: "I hope you will continue to love the child as well as 
you did before my mother died." To which John answered: 
"I hope you will not put crooked pins in its bread and 
butter." 

At this juncture Joyne's sister came into the dining room, 
and John, "censoring strange company" (as Joyne puts it), 
told how he could hardly endure most people, and suspected 
every man of his acquaintance . . . justice was what he 
demanded . . . that was what he gave, and expected. In 
his City speeches, at the coffeehouses, John averred, he was 
as open in his talk as anyone, but always took care to keep 
himself "within the lash of the law." (This was John Locke's 
policy which both Scott and Wildman rigorously followed.) 



THE LEGEND OF JOHN SCOTT f 355 

Again he launched out about the Great Petition. He 
thanked God he had a stock of sense . . . whereupon Joyne, 
no doubt fearing all this political talk was getting nowhere, 
interrupted him by saying that no doubt John could carry off 
anything . . . "after imposing upon the ablest man in France, 
the Prince of Conde," he added suggestively. And John 
answered simply that, "yes, the Prince indeed was the ablest 
man in France ... he did own it." Joyne artfully reminded 
John of the money Conde had given him, but John who even 
drunk seems suddenly to suspect Joyne's promptings broke 
into a little French song, Les Pas Tortus . . . whose irony 
was certainly beyond his host's comprehension. 

Joyne reproached John for having been so little with him 
. . . John excused himself saying that he was driven to 
dine with Sir Thomas Player and other great men, "he could 
not command any time to himself," he explained. He boasted 
a bit of the speech he had made at the Guildhall trial of 
Harrington (Shaftesbury's agent),* all the nobility and gentry 
in town had come to hear him, and were amazed at the way 
he had addressed the Chief Justice. John sat silently, half an 
hour, brooding and drinking, then having "drunk himself 
into a high pitch" grew amorous, kissing Joyne's sister and 
the maid; declaring he must go to a ball at Newmans. . . . 
He went downstairs, where Joyne's father sat, drank a pot or 
two of ale with him, kissed the maid again, and so was gone. 

"II an angel from heaven had recounted this, I would not 
have believed it," exclaimed Pepys pulling himself out of his 
cramped quarters and expressing due thanks to Joyne for the 
"horrendous revelations." 

But what had he really heard? 

Was this a confession of past "crime"? Could this possibly 
serve in a court of law to convict Scott of treason? Was it 
evidence of anything more than the coarseness of the age and 



* "... 'twas proved that Mr. Harrington said the government of England 
consisted of three estates, and that any one making war against the other was 
no rebellion; you may guess at his opinion. . . ." H. M, C. Report 7, p. 470. 



356 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

the hardly surprising circumstance, that a drunken man fre- 
quently mixes fact with fancy? 

Pepys was no fool. He must have recognised what he was 
dealing with. His later conduct was to prove it. 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

1. SP. Dom. Car., II, 633, No. 15. 

2. Ibid., 432, Nos. 35, 15. 

3. Morn. MS., I, f 118; Rawl. MSS., A 175, f 83. 

4. Ibid., ff 83, 92, 99, 157. 

5. Ibid.,f[ 101-110. 

6. Ibid., ff 1, 2, 49, 125, 126, 147-79. 

7. Ibid., A 194, f 58. 

8. Ibid., A. 175, (177,79-81. 

9. SP. Dom. Car., II, 29/419, f 42. 

10. Rawl. MSS., A 175, f 136. 

11. Ibid., I 116. 

12. Wheatley, Diary S. Pepys, V, 34, 39, 78. 

13. Dobson, Evelyn's Diary, Aug. 2, 1663. 

14. Rawl. MSS., A 175, f 170. 

15. Ibid., A 194, ff 126 v, 139. 

16. Ibid., i 61. 

17. Ibid., f 129. 

18. I bid., A 175, 24. 

19. Morn. MS., I,ff 311, 320. 



CHAPTER XLVI 



MURDER IN THE DARK 



An evening with its sweetest light 
Did close a day too fiercely bright 

John Scott, Poems, "The Fountain of 

Verity in the Gardens of Beau-plaine," 

Rawl. MSS., A 176. 



"STILL NO WITNESSES AGAINST PEPYS?" John Scott was asked 
one morning as he strode into Appleby's Coffeehouse. He 
looked up from the letter he was reading and flourished it 
menacingly. He had witnesses, he assured his listeners, many 
witnesses, but Baity St. Michel, he had just learned, was tam- 
pering with them, offering them money not to sail. 1 

This was a strategic defeat that John had not expected. 
News of Balty's bumbling machinations had previously 
reached him from Paris, but it had never occurred to him 
that the young man was a menace. Now it looked as if bribes, 
after all, were to play a decisive role. He girded himself for 
the coming confrontation. He knew that Pepys and Sir An- 
thony were pressing desperately for trial, but he was also 
aware that the Attorney General kept blandly asserting that 
witnesses against them would only testify before parliament. 
And parliament, of course, was not in session. Time was still 
on John's side. 

Hoping that his Parisians might eventually appear, he 
made shift to get a local man to second his accusation. He ap- 
pealed to John Harrison, one of the gun-casting group who 

357 



358 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

had once visited Pelissary's house with John, in 1675, but 
Harrison refused. No one, during the Popish Plot hysteria, 
would, if he could possibly avoid it, risk involving himself in 
the contemporary politico-legal proceedings, where a man's 
life literally hung on an innuendo. John had to content him- 
self with summoning his Houndsditch landlord, Hill, who 
was ready to swear, under oath, that he had heard the Jesuit, 
Coniers, relay Pepys' proffered help to Scott. 

It is noteworthy, indeed, highly revealing, that at na time 
during the strenuous two years' struggle, did John pay the 
slightest attention to Pepys' wild countercharge of treason. 
That was something too wholly remote to warrant rebuttal: 
yet his dismissal of this factor gave an element of shadow- 
boxing to a deathly duel in which the life of one, and the 
reputation of the other, were nevertheless very shatteringly 
at stake. 

Samuel Pepys, too, was preparing himself for the last round 
in their grim ordeal: he was maintaining his foreign wit- 
nesses in London at most vexing cost, and with waning hopes 
of getting them heard. He had retained John Joyne, too, hid- 
ing him in M. Denise's house and sending letters to Paris, to 
be posted back to John to substantiate the fiction of Joyne's 
departure. 

Baity himself had warned his brother-in-law he should not 
be seen in public with this dubious character. 2 But without 
the glib watchmaker Pepys felt lost, his obsession with the 
fellow becoming notorious. The King heard of it, and was 
amused. 

How strange it is that all his friends kept a tame rogue, ob- 
served Charles II about this time, struck by the prevalence 
of manufactured evidence. John Joyne was Pepys' rogue. 
From him he heard reports of Colonel Scott's political con- 
versations with obscure conventicle preachers, of the red 
herrings and small beer he had for breakfast. The scoffing 
remark, duly related to Pepys, was but one of the pinpricks 



MURDER IN THE DARK f 359 

he had to endurelike the libels hawked through the streets 
screaming his dockyard "knaveries." 

Then came a break from an unexpected quarter. A trio 
of shifty individuals, one of his own Admiralty clerks, Phelix 
Donluis, together with an ex-porter and an Admiralty mes- 
sengerall resentful at having been fired by Pepys now wrote 
him, confessing that Harbord and other Whig leaders had 
paid them for furnishing material from Navy files. They told 
him, too, that James, his cx-butler, now a dying man, was 
anxious to absolve his conscience and recant the words that 
had fastened the popery charge on his master. 

In a squalid back room Pepys met the perjured creatures. 
"They all knew enough," James whispered, "to stop Scott's 
mouth. . . ." But with the customary proviso. They wanted 
something in return . . . their jobs back, payment of arrears. 
... It was the same old story. The desired testimony had to 
be bought. 

Claiming that he wanted "nothing but the bare truth," 
Pepys, nevertheless, skillfully managed to satisfy their de- 
mands without laying himself open to possible subsequent 
charges of bribery. But before he could make use of this 
promising material Easter Term had ended, again with no 
trial. 

Colonel Scott was trumping Balty's ace. 

"From beyond the sea," he sent to the Court, through his 
lawyer, Goodenough, copies of the treasonable material, but 
when called, did not appear. John was in France with the 
Duke of Buckingham, on business which may have possibly 
involved the quest of campaign funds for the Country Party. 
But in his absence, the Lord Chief Justice refused to have 
the matter read. And Pepys, in a torment of bitterness and 
indignation beyond measure was told he must hold himself 
at the Court's disposition for yet another three months! Bail, 
however, was this time disallowed, and he and Deane were 
subjected only to recognizances of one thousand pounds each. 

Convinced he would never be able to make use of them, he 



360 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

packed off his foreign witnesses, after taking all their deposi- 
tions. And for years they continued to clamor for money! 3 As 
late as 1689 Deborah Egmont wrote to "Squire Pips" remind- 
ing him she had once "served him" and begging a job 
for her new husband. 4 Even the reluctant Joyne Pepys finally 
sent back to Paris, where he was speedily recognized as offi- 
cial agent of the once all-powerful Admiralty Secretary and, 
as such, became the target of assorted rascals, particularly a 
Portuguese, one Moralles, a man of forceful ingenuity.. To- 
gether he and Joyne invented new Scott villainies which they 
said threatened the Secretary and could only be averted by 
the immediate payment of five hundred pounds! For three 
more years they kept up this blackmail, pursuing Pepys to 
London in 1683, where the sorely tried little man, throwing 
caution to the winds, had Joyne imprisoned. The watchmaker 
promptly sued Pepys, in Chancery, and Pepys responded by 
a thumping rebuttal (which runs into thirty-three large 
membranes) in the Mitford Chancery Proceedings. But that is 
another story. 

For the time being in early 1680 Pepys* hands were full 
with the "Revelations" of his three perjurers who now 
showed signs of wavering; even his dying butler seemed under 
fearful pressures and literally collapsed while still trying to 
make a statement. In an almost inhuman disregard for the 
unhappy man's last hours, Pepys, his lawyer, his colleague and 
close friend Will Hewer, sundry Justices of the Peace and 
the great Harbord M.P. himself, all crowded into the poverty- 
stricken bedroom where James lay in agony, there to read 
correspondence, take depositions, confront the tormented 
creature with papers which he acknowledged to be true, and, 
faced practically with delirium and death throes, finally to 
obtain a signed declaration which absolved not only Pepys 
from popery, but Harbord from bribery! 

With his battle half won, Pepys sternly resisted opportuni- 
ties for revenge in the tempting suggestions of the genial 
Donluis that they now enter the world of plot and counter- 



MURDER IN THE DARK f 361 

plot and involve Shaftesbury in a momentous "discovery." 
Shaken by his recent experience, Pepys was only too happy to 
retire, a spectator on the sidelines. High politics had never 
claimed his allegiance, and with so much evidence for sale he 
may well have begun to suspect how very fragile were his own 
defenses. 

From Paris had arrived the first of Joyne's letters. Pepys, 
still feeling dependent upon him, sent him ten pounds and 
told him ''to be easy with Moralles" and to continue his 
search for Scott's crimes. To Baity, he sent renewed instruc- 
tions; to seek more sworn statements, there were still so 
many people to question: Seigneley's maitre d'hotel; "that 
French boy, Doise," former servant of Mr. Wentworth, M.P.; 
and "him that was with the Duke of Buckingham and made 
the sweetmeats"; Javier, former barber to the Duke of York, 
now in France; Berkshire's two servants; P^lissary's porter 
and footman. 5 Pepys' truly heroic energy overlooked nothing 
. . . and he learned, at third, or fourth hand, innumerable 
remarkable details that John had said he was a Dutchman; 
that he had killed the Duke of York's page, had pawned his 
map-plates; and, once, didn't pay his tailor.* 

It was the last frantic gesture. All things considered, how- 
ever, Pepys felt that his labors were paying off. "My ad- 
versary continues his old practice of keeping out of my way 
and giving no evidence . . . saying that his purpose is to 
respite it for parliament," he wrote John Joyne on June 18th, 
1680. But it was something right outside both Scott's and 
Pepys' dominion that brought their business to a sudden 
standstill. The Opposition had overplayed its hand: it had 
not reckoned on Charles' successful counteroffensive. The 



* Typical of so much of the "evidence" that builds John Scott's life story, 
is the testimony of a Captain Holland, who is relaying information of a 
Captain Brown, a sealgraver who worked on the gun-casting experiment. 
"He promises to inquire out one Poulsen that did belong to Lord Arlington 
who knows Scott very well and all his Practices, as having discoursed mightily 
with him against Scott but upon what particulars he knoweth not." Rawl. 
MSS., A 173, f 192. 



362 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

Petition Campaign had backfired; the public was beginning 
to tire of violence and vilification. 

The popular mood seemed reflected in the action of the 
Lord Chief Justice and the Attorney General. Trinity Term 
opened and Pepys and Deane put in their routine motion for 
discharge, hardly daring to hope for either trial or liberty. 
But the end came with startling brevity which surpassed their 
wildest dreams. For on June 28th, 1680, the Court, hearing 
that there was nothing against their motion, informed them 
they were discharged and bid them be gone. After months of 
humiliation, anguish and suspense, Pepys was a free man. 

And a most cautious one, too. For the first time it looks as 
if he understood that "Satan Scott" was not the sole cause of 
his misfortune; that dangers of a vaster, more nebulous na- 
ture threatened him. Whether he knew it or not, he was 
caught up in a political maelstrom. With possible civil war 
in England and with Charles in full breach with Louis, the 
European situation was such that the King could not exist on 
his revenues. Supplies would have to be voted by parliament. 
And if parliament met and witnesses were brought over to 
testify against him, Pepys, to defend himself, would be forced 
to reveal the King's secret ties with France. To a man of 
such simple loyalties as the Secretary, the thought was in- 
tolerable. 

His original intention of taking the offensive and wiping 
Scott from the political scene forever was abandoned. When 
Deane bluntly urged him to publish (under the assumed 
name of G. Bayley) the collected "evidence," he refused. Per- 
haps he saw how impossible it would have been to have sub- 
stantiated any of this gossip. The affidavits all the original 
ill-scrawled statements, as well as the copies in Paul Lor- 
raine's exquisite copperplate, he locked away among his pri- 
vate papers. From time to time he added more villainies, sup- 
plied by the unquenchable Joyne. But the accusations were 
now becoming so far-fetched with a whole new Popish Plot 
involving the Queen of England that Pepys' original doubts 



MURDER IN THE DARK f 363 

returned a thousandfold; and he even reproached Joyne 
heatedly for his "impious and detestable machinations." 

And not many years passed before he himself referred to 
the "silly charge" that had once sent him to the Tower and 
on which he had hoped to convict John Scott! "What a pother 
was heretofore made about the pretended discovery of our 
sands, etc. to strangers," he wrote; with scoffing memories of 
a certain British Admiral who for all his precise knowledge 
of their exact position still managed, at a most critical mo- 
ment, to get stuck in the mud."* 

But in 1680 Pepys was taking no chances. When John 
Scott, just back from France, was reported at Newmans talk- 
ing to an Admiralty clerk, Pepys dispatched the faithful 
Hewer to fortify (with a little financial aid) the man's honesty 
against Whig assault! The danger was not yet over. 

Though there had been no trial, and Pepys had never had 
to justify himself before them, the Opposition Lords were 
still very strong and cunning, and John was far closer to them 
than Pepys had ever suspected. 

Shaftesbury was driving his party with terrible urgency. 
Racked by physical pain and in failing health, he never lost 
sight of his goal: a Protestant English monarch. He was al- 
ways ready with new assaults, relying on John, among his 
partisans, to carry them out. 

In the spring of 1680, the great little Lord announced to 
the Privy Council the existence of an Irish Plot, and insisted 
that his substantiating witnesses be examined, not in Ireland 
as the Duke of Ormonde, the staunch Royalist Lord-Lieu- 
tenant demanded but in England under his own control. So 
into the country poured a motley crew of "good swearers" 
ready to make Protestant flesh creep with the tried-and-true 
recital of fire and massacre. John, lawyer-like, was their 
"manager," briefing them for their courthouse appearance. 

Hard on this exploit came Shaftesbury's Black Box rally, 



* Lord Dartmouth, sailing to oppose the Prince of Orange in 1688, could 
not get his fleet off Galloper Sand, in the mouth of the Thames! 



364 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

an ingenious attempt to bolster his candidate's claims to the 
throne. Late in April persistent rumors which John circu- 
lated assiduously through coffeehouses and taverns hinted 
at a mysterious box among the effects of the late Bishop of 
Durham, containing proof that Charles, during his exile, 
married Lucy Walter, thus making the Duke of Monmouth 
legitimate. 

So successful was this rich vein, appealing as it did to all 
the romantic yearnings of simple folk for a disinherited Prot- 
estant prince restored to his rights, that the King had to make 
a public declaration denying the existence of marriage lines. 

Even so the young Duke's stock rose very considerably. 
Shaftesbury sent John into the West country always a Stuart 
stronghold on a big campaign tour for the dashing young 
warrior; to arrange royal "progresses" and generally act as 
publicity man. It was the kind of work that suited John best. 
His ready charm, his easy line of persuasive talk, won friends 
and adherents wherever he went, and so impressed the power- 
ful Member for Taunton, John Trenchard, that, on the 
strength of this visit, he put up Colonel Scott's name for the 
Green Ribbon Club. Within a short time John, duly elected, 
was free to swagger through the rooms of the famous King's 
Head Tavern; to come out on the balcony, his long pipe in 
his hand, and, at Pope-burning orgies or on bonfire nights, 
watch the delirious crowds, and take pride in knowing that 
for some of their antics at least, he and other members were 
pulling the strings. 

But if Shaftesbury relentlessly pursued a policy to establish 
a Protestant heir-apparent, the King had never shown greater 
political sagacity in defending the hereditary principle. Bur- 
dened as he was with a childless wife he would not divorce, a 
papist successor whose rights he would not betray, and his 
unalterable refusal to place a bastard on the throne, he defied 
his angry Ministers, shrugged off all minor plots and dared 
flout public opinion by even turning against the still tower- 
ing figure of Titus Gates. 



MURDER IN THE DARK f 365 

Commons had already expelled two Members for express- 
ing disbelief in the Popish Plot, but Charles put the first real 
brake on the national hysteria by refusing any further to 
grant pardon in advance to those whose testimony sent Cath- 
olics to the gallows. And Gates he sent packing and pension- 
less from his Whitehall suite. 

Response was immediate. The Duke of York was indicted 
as a Popish recusant, and burnt in efligy. "T'is rebellion," 
Charles accused Shaftesbury to his face. But the little Lord 
coldly maintained that he was within the law a fact the King- 
could not dispute. 

For behind this mortal duel the influence of John Locke, 
"that great doctor of the Revolution," as Trevor-Roper calls 
him, was still operating. More than ten years were to elapse 
before he formulated in philosophical terms the ideas which 
Shaftesbury professed and which John in a simple fashion 
had both anticipated and applied. Unscrupulous as the use of 
some of them might be at that date, they rested, nevertheless, 
upon belief in the sovereignty of the people, and in the con- 
viction that all peaceful beginnings of government must have 
the people's consent. 

But how long would ambitious men remain within the law? 

In autumn Charles met his fourth Parliament; saw the Ex- 
clusion Bill triumphantly carried through the House to be 
defeated, after a terrific struggle, by the Peers. George Duke 
of Buckingham made one of his great speeches and moved 
that a committee from both Houses "consider the state of 
the nation with regard to Popery." 

It was debated two hours before being thrown out, but it 
brought the unpredictable Duke into the political limelight 
again. He had been feuding with Shaftesbury over choice of 
the successor; the Republicans favored the Prince of Orange 
Dutch Williamrather than the wastrel Monmouth; while 
Buckingham, whose mother was a Plantagenet, considered 
himself a more fitting candidate than either. Now the two 
powerful Lords closed ranks again. The Exclusion Bill's 



366 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

defeat had turned the tide against the Whigs, and both men 
scented an upsurge of royalist sentiment. Charles made a 
clever surprise attack by calling Parliament to meet at Ox- 
ford where, out of reach of the bullying London mobs, and 
with troops patrolling the road to the Chi kerns, he faced 
and dismissed his fifth and last Parliament. Resolved neither 
to surrender to pressure nor risk civil war, he had made a 
second secret deal with Louis. Assured of the equivalent of 
one hundred thousand dollars a year, he could dispense alto- 
gether with the people's representatives and custodians of 
national destiny. Arid at last he felt strong enough to send 
Shaftesbury to the Tower. 

With his rival out of the way, Buckingham seized control 
of the Country Party, and John came back to his old patron. 
The Duke, with his parliamentary motion defeated, indulged 
in a little direct action and now made overtures openly to the 
nation, declaring once again that arbitrary government was 
imperiling the Protestant religion. This clarion call was taken 
up with a will by John, Colonel Mansell, and others of the 
Duke's clan who urged all listeners that it was the duty of 
every Protestant to oppose the prevailing conditions "to the 
hazard of their lives and fortunes." 

Lacking his great rival's tactical skill and superb sense of 
measure, Buckingham rashly financed armed intervention. 
Obscure blacksmiths in London's East End, were commis- 
sioned to forge daggers with Memento Godfrey inscribed on 
their blades; all night long the lathes were turning out 
weapons; and, just as in the tragic days of '42, horses and am- 
munition were sent from Holland, landed on lonely beaches, 
hidden for the coming "Day." Buckingham, so it was re- 
ported, unable to exclude the Duke legally, intended, upon 
the King's death, to bring over Dutch help and impose his 
own choice by arms! 

John, however, did not go along with this violence. He was 
a commonsense politician believing that government was a 
"noble art 1 ' and that "to keep order in the land" was a 



MURDER IN THE DARK f 367 

monarch's first and foremost task (as he wrote in an essay on 
how Kings should rule). Not only would his former royalist 
attachments exclude drastic measures but such an attitude 
was reinforced, at this period, by his contact with John 
Locke whose ideas on the mutual contract between sovereign 
and sovereign-people in the spirit of toleration and civil 
liberty Scott so demonstrably shared. And if, indeed, Buck- 
ingham had ever plotted York's assassination, this dark de- 
sign was, to John's relief and possibly owing to his influence, 
dropped. 7 

Soon Shaftesbury was released by a packed grand jury who 
returned a verdict of Ignoramus (insufficient evidence). And 
together the two noble lords rode from the Tower to Alders- 
gate, their coaches followed by hysterically vociferous crowds. 
"A Buckingham! A Shaftesbury! No Popery!" they cheered 
hoarsely the length of the way. It was the last cheers the two 
were ever to hear, before they disappeared from the political 
arena for good. 

But John was not there to witness their downfall. His own 
had come even more suddenly and from a source whose in- 
significance seemed to mock his whole existence. Yet it was 
not wholly out of character. John had never learned to disci- 
pline his passions nor check the turbulence that made his 
career a storm of sixty years. His intemperance proved his 
own undoing. 

For one tranquil May evening in 1G82 he was in the Horse- 
shoe Tavern on little Tower Hill, in the company of one of 
Buckingham's lawyers, Mr. Warton, of Lincoln's Inn. The 
host had shown them into a back room whereupon John had 
been much offended and demanded a better, threatening the 
man with his sword. Apologizing profusely, the tavernkeeper 
gave them what they wanted, and brought a pint of canary 
wine. They sat drinking and talking, and then John sent a boy 
for a hackney coach to take them back to Temple Bar. The 
hacker, a George Butler, "who loved not that end of town/ 1 



368 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

refused to take them there for one and sixpence and was dis- 
missed. 

"Am I to have nothing for my pains?" he demanded trucu- 
lently. 

Suddenly John was filled with suspicion; ("he had not God 
before his eyes," testified a witness later). 

Why had the hacker come into the inn? What had he over- 
heard of their conversation? Was he a spy in somebody's pay? 
Cabbies were notoriously venal, and John had been ^ngaged 
in earnest conversation with one of the Duke's legal aides. 
Was the driver part of the offensive against the Opposition? 
Nobody knows; for there was never any adjudication. But it 
is impossible to believe that the dispute and subsequent 
tragedy were merely about the insignificant sum of one and 
sixpence. 

Rising abruptly and following the cabby into the court- 
yard, John shouted: "I will give you something for your 
pains." And drawing his sword he ran the man through. 

Suddenly the night was rent with screams of "Murder! 
Murder! You have murdered me!" 

"You lie, like a rogue," retorted John. But the man lay 
silent and prostrate with a wound below his navel. 8 

Abandoning his coat and gloves, John disappeared, before 
the gaping crowds arrived. 

A hue and cry was put out. 

And in eighteen pages of formal Latin he was subsequently 
arraigned before a London Court. "The Outlawry of Colonel 
Scott for the murder of John George Butler," it read; but 
John was not there to hear the charge. Nor is there any 
record in the files of the King's Bench, or London Sessions, of 
any trial. 

Two weeks later Thompson's Intelligencer published a 
story with embellishments which could only have come from 
someone very near Samuel Pepys. Now were made public all 
the spiciest details of the collected affidavits, a list of the 
"pranks" John was supposed to have played. 



MURDER IN THE DARK f 369 

"This Great Vindicator of the Salamanca Doctor/' shrieked 
the news sheet, hitting headlines by coupling John's name 
with that of Titus Gates, "cheated the States of Holland of 
7000 and was hanged in effigy at the Hague. He went to 
Paris pretending to be a person of quality belonging to the 
Court and got several sea cards [sic] which he could shew 
them how to burn all His Majesty's navy in their harbors, but 
being discovered a cheat was forced to fly. Since the discovery 
of the Popish Plot he came into England and pretended he 
had those sea cards of Sir Anthony Deane and Mr. Pepys and 
that they would hand the ships burnt by the French King and 
employed him for this purpose . . ." 9 

It was all there, even more garbled than Pepys had it. But 
John did not see the sheet. Once again he had slipped out of 
the country and was safe abroad. 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

1. Rawl. MSS., A 175, f 204; Mit. Ch. Pro., C 8, 376, No. 69. 

2. Rawl. MSS., A 194, f 117. 

3. Ibid., A 178, ff 49, 52, 54, 103, 115, 178, 182, 188. 

4. Ibid., A 179, 57. 

5. Mit. Ch. Pro., C 8, 638, No. 61. 

6. CSPDom., 1682, p. 269. 

7. Ibid., No. 110. 

8. Rawl. MSS., A 178, f 238. 

9. Ibid., ff 238-240; 260-62. 



CHAPTER XLVII 



LAST DAYS 



Duty in my heart, not faction, shines. 

John Scott, "Lines on Courageous Talbot," 
Rawl. MSS., A 176, f 75. 



York Buildings 
May 13th 1682 
Will Hewer to Samuel Pepys: 

FRIEND COLONEL SCOTT, being fled for killing a coach- 
man, the Coroner having found it willful murther meanes 
are using to buy off the widow who has three small children; 
but we are considering what to do to prevent it, Sir Anthony 
Deane being come to town. . . ." 

Pepys, from Newcastle on May 26th answered, "This leads 
me to the tidings you give of our friend Scott, whom God 
pleased to take out of our hands into his own for justice; for 
should he prevail with the widow for her forgiveness there 
is the King's pardon behind, which I suppose he will not 
easily compass, unless by some confessions which I am con- 
fident he is able to make, relating to the State as well as us; 
that might enough atone for this his last villainy. Nor do I 
doubt but to save his own life, he will forget his trade and 
tell truth, though to the hazard of the best friends he has, 
which pray let Sir Anthony Deane think of." 1 (Italics added.) 

Pepys' concern about Deane may have been no more than 
that of a good friend for a colleague who had shared his 

370 



LAST DAYS f 371 

prison ordeal. But Deane's activities do little to enhance his 
reputation and seem rather to confirm the suspicion aroused 
by John Scott's accusation. No longer a Navy ship-builder, 
but engaged in various lucrative private undertakings, Deane 
was one of the three speculators who had purchased from the 
ruined Duke of Buckingham York House to develop as 
Admiralty offices, a vast commercial enterprise which must 
have called for the outlay of considerable capital. Where had 
he suddenly found all this money? And one is further dis- 
turbed by the man's apparent need to assuage his conscience 
by vehement self-justification over the excellence of his former 
service, insomuch that (as he wrote Pepys), "from his single 
care and industry in the place he served, he saved His Majesty 
above one hundred thousand pounds, and had saved further 
one hundred and fifty thousand pounds more/' had his advice 
been taken. 2 Surely the gentleman did protest too much! 

Pepys' fear that Scott would betray his friends and return 
"to tell all" was never fulfilled. Though John was privy to all 
the Republicans' last desperate ventures and knew where the 
smuggled arms were stored, he made no use of the fact. And 
his friends were equally loyal to him. Someone in the govern- 
ment allowed him a small pension during his exile, just 
enough to keep him alive, though the details of this period 
are very meager. His flight to the Continent came at the very 
height of his career and at a moment when he seemed about 
to renew contacts with his family. Apparently he had sent 
for, and was expecting his sons; and from the affectionate 
tone of a letter he had written from London in May, 1681, 
the correspondence had evidently been going on for some 
time. That he should consign Jeckomiah to the care of Cap- 
tain Howell (of the distinguished Southampton family of that 
name) and send warm greetings to John Topping, another of 
his home town's first families, gives the lie yet again to the 
Pepysian affidavits. A man is, after all, known by the com- 
pany he keeps, and on Long Island, John kept excellent 
company. 



372 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

"My Deare Child, 

I have sent to thy brother a hat, a suit of clothes, a pair of 
stockings, some Gloves, Cravats, Paper, a grammar . . . and 
have writ to Captain Howell to take you into his family." 
[The boys, in 1679, came into their share of "the great divi- 
sion of land formerly belonging to their father," 3 and Jecko- 
miah's going to Captain Howells' may have coincided with 
Deborah Scott's marriage with Charles Sturmey.] "I charge 
you to yield to him exact obedience and be verry Diligent 
and let me find by a letter by Captain Bound what profi- 
ciency you make. . . . 

"If you give me Incuragemerit I shall be very kind to you 
and take great care for your Preferment, and shall send for 
you as soon as your Brother has made one voiage to get the 
Practical Part of Navigation, that at his Returne to South- 
ampton he may be able to give such account of himself that 
Render him useful and acceptable to his friends, and, if God 
preserve him, become master and merchant, of a ship and 
cargo. But I design you for another sort of Life, therefore do 
not, through want of an Industrious address, Injure your 
sclfe by Destroying my hopes and Expectations. Had your 
brother come over when I sent for him he would have learned 
that which I find he is now uncapable of in great measure, 
and might have been back again before this time, and so has 
in effect, lost two or three years which I hope he will with 
great Industrey Retrieve. I have sent you a hood and Skarfe, 
and three Paire of Gloves for you to make a present on to your 
Mother to shew your Dutifull Respect to her. For whatever 
Difference she and I have had, Remember she is your mother, 
and you owe her a Duty of the greatest Tenderness. [Italics 
added.] I charge you keep close to your Book; the first good 
accompt you give me I will send you anything that you sig- 
nifie to me you have occasion for; Captain Howell must be 
an evidence for you, of your civil Gentle behaviour, I trust 
God in his mersey will dispose you to have an eye to his serv- 
ice and not to think it Labour Lost, for it is the Interest of 



LAST DAYS f 373 

Every Private Person to make search Into ye Nature and 
Quality of the Religion by which alone he can hope to be 
Eternally happy. My service to your uncle Joseph [Raynor, 
Deborah's brother] and all my friends, Wright upon Mr. 
John Topping and present my service to him and Pray his 
Excuse for not wrighting at this time; I shall suddenly, God 
willing, do him the trouble of a letter. 

I am your very affectionate 

Loveing father, 

John Scott" 

Though a fugitive from justice, John neither forgot his 
family nor seemed to have lost hope that he might once again 
serve his country. By his own underground means of com- 
munication he began negotiating for resuming work as for- 
eign agent, negotiations that were not, at that moment suc- 
cessful, though he writes hopefully to Lord Arlington, later. 
He had heard that the Secretary of State, Sir Leoline 
Jenkins, had had his papers and personal effects seized from 
his Chancery Lane lodgings, to be put with those previously 
confiscated from Cannon Street on Samuel Pepys' order. His 
elaborate suits he hoped to get back for his son. Many a Res- 
toration gentleman put the best part of his fortune into his 
wardrobe and John's satins and silver laces were obviously of 
more value than the "little necessaries" he mentions. 

His plaint that he was "traduced" to the Duke of York is 
partially explained by the fact that the Duke's informer, 
Colonel Thomas Blood (himself a soldier of fortune, who al- 
most succeeded in stealing the Crown Jewels from the Tower 
and was pardoned by Charles for the sheer audacity of his 
crime) had recently reported to his master "dangerous con- 
spiracies still carrying on against your person and interest." 4 
He included evil doings of Colonel Scott (William, son of the 
regicide) who was active in an Irish rebellion. Since Blood 
never distinguished between the two Colonel Scotts, the Duke 



374 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

may also have entertained the same illusion, re-inforcing his 
Long Island memories of John. 

But in his last letter to Lord Arlington, our Colonel Scott 
speaks for himself. 

Teerveer, Zeeland, June 26th, 1682 

The person I ordered to wait on you writes that it is ex- 
pected I should set down particularly in what manner I can 
be servicable, and that I might write either to you or to him, 
and that it met with opposition. I had hoped for uch an 
answer as might have encouraged you to favor me with two or 
three lines, but, it seems, no service I can do will balance the 
severity of my enemies. They that desire my mentioning par- 
ticulars under my hand may consider that would bring me 
under great perils, before I have a pardon. Though its re- 
fused, I wish as great security to the government as I wish to 
my own soul, I should never have mentioned what I did to 
you, had I not intended the greatest sincerity and there had 
been something in it much more considerable to me than 
my own safety. Not many months ago a black design was 
touched gently and let go again, which was of worse conse- 
quence than was imagined and wants no improvement. You 
may remember I have expressed great dissatisfaction at the 
carriage of some persons, ever since before the Oxford parlia- 
ment and had a great desire to be represented to his Majesty 
and His Royal Highness, to whom I have been traduced; and 
such was my misfortune more than my natural inclinations, 
which put me on some things and adhering to some persons, 
which otherwise I should not have done. I was never for 
overturning* and my moderation may one day appear to have 
been of some service, as inconsiderable a person as I am 
looked on. If you judge it not advisable to write I pray say 
nothing to this young man, for, though I have writ to him to 
mind his own business, there are of that party that will not 



* This \vas the Fanatics' classic expression, denoting complete constitu- 
tional change. Italics added by author. 



LAST DAYS f 375 

endure that I should accept of His Majesty's grace if offered, 
and, till he gets out of England, I know not how they may be 
sifting for him. Since you have taken the maps, charts, and 
plans at my lodgings, I would entreat you to move Secretary 
Jenkins for an order that my son might have my clothes and 
little necessaries, which are of little value." 5 

John found nothing to occupy him in Zeeland. The Prince 
of Orange had all the United Provinces very firmly in hand, 
nor would he be likely to look very favorably upon one who, 
in 1672, had so persistently advocated a separatist movement 
in his kingdom. John quit Terveer and we hear next of him 
in Norway. In September, James Gelson, former Shaftesbury 
agent, wrote to Pepys from Skeen and Christiana, where he 
had met John, and heard from his own lips something of his 
work with the Opposition. It was John's fate to be described 
and interpreted by people of limited knowledge and intelli- 
gence, and one must remember that Gelson had been bitterly 
jealous of his Flanders rival in the old days, so we must ac- 
cept his words with some reservation. 

Skeen, Sept., 1683 

". . . His Service was to insinuate evil against the govern- 
ment, His Majesty and His Royal Highness," wrote Gelson. 

"He should cry up sometimes the Commonwealth, some- 
times the Duke of Monmouth as he met with persons fit for 
impressions to beget a loathing to the government and gov- 
ernors and to divide the King's friends, the latter being only 
for that purpose; they desiring no King but tyrants under the 
pretence of a commonwealth. Oates was to have sworn in a 
fit time that the King gave commissions to the Roman Catho- 
lics to destroy the Protestant subjects. He knew the authors 
and spreaders of treasonable libels; they swore the King was 
to be killed by the Papists and put other things on them to 
aggravate the people against them and through their sides 
was the only way to wound and destroy the government and 
to raise parties and force on pretence against them . . . Their 



376 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

party consisted of enemies to the government and discon- 
tented and disappointed persons, and such as hoped for pro- 
ferements, with fools and others deluded. He (Scott) was put 
upon informing against Mr. Pepys by a person that hoped to 
get his place and they designed to have taken away his life, 
but the person found he was not like to succeed if they pro- 
ceeded." 6 

Again Gelson writes, Sept. 30th, 1683 . . . Skeen "My last 
acquainted you I was going to find Colonel Scott in -hopes to 
prevail with him to make a full discovery of the late ill de- 
signs. I met with him at Lauvik and he promised to do it and 
put it in writing before I went to England, But I insinuated 
that expedition would be its life and therefore desired him 
to do it as soon as possible and I would convey it by good 
hand. But being sent for to unload a ship in this river I was 
forced to leave him before it was effected. 

"He was present at many of the consults for overthrowing 
the government, at least for putting force on His Majesty. 
Very many late Parliament men were of the same conspiracy. 
He knows all the principal persons engaged in it. He was 
chosen to go into the West country to make parties for the 
Duke of Monmouth and practised it by private insinuations 
and public speeches . . . That they had been in action long 
before the discovery [presumably the Popish Plot italics 
added] but that the Commonwealth men disagreed with the 
others and they were jealous of each other. He acknowledges 
he was a tool much used. As he pretends to know all of any 
consideration that were engaged I hoped to procure from him 
their names and the methods designed . . . and with such 
circumstances and proofs as may confirm what he declares. I 
insinuated that it would be very acceptable to God and might 
be servicable to His Majesty and be the way to insure for- 
giveness from both, and to kept strictly to the truth was all 
that was desired. 

"I shall go over to him again in a few days to see what he 



LAST DAYS f 377 

can and will do and shall endeavour to get it done with 
greater expedition because I hope the nation is a little come 
to itself and as soon as may be in a posture tor His Majesty 
to have a parliament. . . ." 7 

But Parliament never met again during Charles II's reign 
though national passions did subside a little after Titus Gates 
disappeared. The infamous doctor of divinity was convicted 
of perjury in 1685, was pilloried, and actually survived the 
two awful floggings through London streets from Aldgate to 
Newgate and to Tyburn. 

Tories gradually regained the ascendancy in public affairs; 
and the day a Tory Sheriff of London was appointed which 
meant an end to juries packed in favor of Whigs Shaftes- 
bury (alias Johnson) slipped out of England, to die some 
months later in Amsterdam, a lonely embittered man. All 
that he had feared and tried to prevent came to pass when, in 
1685, the Duke of York, as James II, succeeded his brother 
and proceeded to suppress local government and the civil and 
religious liberties so long defended by the patriots. George 
Duke of Buckingham made his last public appearance at the 
Coronation ceremony stripped of his offices, to be sure, but 
a still commanding figure, his lively eyes and high-bred fea- 
tures unable to conceal the contempt and ridicule he felt for 
glum, dull-witted obstinate James. This new King he could 
not take seriously and within a matter of weeks he had out- 
raged the royal sensibilities with an essay, Reason and Re- 
ligion, his final plea for liberty of conscience. 

But no one could cope with James II's political ineptitude, 
his stubborn blindness. After three disastrous years, his exas- 
perated subjects rose and drove him from the throne. They 
drew up a Bill of Rights and invited William of Orange with 
his wife Mary Protestant daughter of James to sign it and 
to reign as King and Queen together. Major Wildman and 
Harbord were on the ship which triumphantly brought them 
from Holland, and John Scott may have hoped that on their 



378 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

return (after a voluntary exile during James* brief reign) they 
might hasten his own. He was disappointed. The Glorious 
Revolution had come about, but with Shaftesbury, Bucking- 
ham and Arlington all dead, John lingered in quasi-oblivion 
for a few more years, forgotten by the other two. 

At Montserrat, in the West Indies (an island John had 
once "resettled" during his early travels), there is a parch- 
ment indenture, dated March 1st, 1694, of the sale of a 
hundred acre estate to him, with all buildings theteon. So 
John had returned to his old haunts and had become a mem- 
ber of the Leeward Assembly since 1691 and was Captain of 
the Montserrat Forts at the time he bought this, his last resi- 
dence, listed as being in St. Peter's Parish, between Soldier's 
Gutt and the Old River. 8 But evidently he was only giving 
the place a trial; he did not stay long and the final sale was 
not recorded until 1697. John, meanwhile, returned to 
Europe and was certainly in France once more about 1695. 
He was presumably again doing some kind of intelligence for 
the British government, and, returning unexpectedly in Lon- 
don one day, was arrested "for coming out of France without 
leave." 10 He surrendered to the Duke of Shrewsbury, but 
apparently his work was known and recognized; indeed he is 
credited with having exposed a Jacobite plot brewing on the 
Continent and threatening the royal family. 11 Whether he 
actually did so or not, King William's providential escape 
marked a change in John's luck. He was formally pardoned 
for illegal entry into England and this was followed by even 
greater clemency. 

In April, 1696, the King sent a preliminary order to the 
Attorney-General, stating: "it is the King's will and pleasure" 
that a bill be prepared "for our Royal Signature . . . contain- 
ing our gracious and free pardon unto John Scott Esq. . . . 
concerning the death and killing of ... and of all indict- 
ments, convictions, outlawries, Paynes and Penalties . . . 
incurred thereby. . . ." With legal flourishes it ordered "all 



LAST DAYS f 379 

requisite apt and beneficial clauses be inserted" to make the 
pardon "most full, valid and effectual/' 12 

Even in his most sanguine moments John could not have 
hoped for such complete forgiveness of his hot-headed killing. 
When the document passed the Create Scale in July, 1696, 
John was once again a free man, to come and go as he pleased. 

Pepys and his friends caught up with the news only much 
later. 

One of his innumerable correspondents wrote Pepys in 
November, 1696, "Colonel Scott came to England about 7 
weeks ago in a seaman's habit, he was not seen by anybody 
I know till about 16 days ago and then he appeared in a 
pretty good habit and a bob wig and pulled out a parchment 
with a broad seal on it. ... His person and carriage are not 
a bit altered." 13 

He had not changed. He was still the lithe, ardent figure 
he had always been, but the times had changed. He was alone 
and without patrons in an England ruled by a man to whom 
John "had always been obnoxious." 14 

What had he to expect? 

When indeed had his expectations ever been fulfilled? 

"A tool much used," Celson had called him, but John 
Scott was no man's tool, though he had often served a cause. 
Perhaps he recounted to himself bitterly the many times he 
had kept the faith, and always to his own disadvantage. 

Oliver Cromwell he would not serve, though "great em- 
ployment" would have come if he had. Governor Winthrop's 
commission he resigned when its purpose would have im- 
periled religious freedom. The King's New England commis- 
sioners could not tempt him from what he chose to regard 
as his duty to his monarch and his monarch's overseas sub- 
jects. While in Dutch service he declined governorship of the 
town of Roos, since taking it would have entailed an oath of 
allegiance to Holland. 

He abandoned this foreign military career at a word from 
his King; nor would he betray his side no matter what in- 



380 f THE INDOMITABLE JOHN SCOTT 

ducements the United Provinces offered him. Even John's 
work with the Opposition and his abandonment of royalist 
sympathies were founded on the assumption that Charles 
himself was betraying his better nature and degrading Eng- 
land by his financial dependence upon France. A summing up 
of John's feelings on this score (as his letter to Arlington 
suggests) was Shaftesbury's last desperate appeal that the 
King give heed to Whig proposals; and his assurance that the 
King would find loyalty enough would he but be loyaj too! 

"There must be, My Lord, in plain English, a change, there 
must be neither Popish wife, nor Popish mistress, nor Popish 
councillors . . . you may have anything from Parliament. 
Put away these men, change your principles, change your 
Court. Be yourself." 15 

Well, now it was all over. The Whig cause had sunk into 
conspiracy and perished, only to be gloriously revived to 
flourish for more than a century. But there seemed no place 
in England for John. Now he definitely took ship for the 
West Indies. Seven times he had sailed the Caribbean in his 
life's wanderings; he was as much at home there as anywhere. 
And it looks as if he were rejoined by his former wife 
Deborah, now a rich widow. Sturmey had died in 1691 and 
there is no further reference to her in the Southampton 
Records after the mention of her as sole executrix of his will. 
It would be pleasant to think of the two former lovers spend- 
ing their declining years together; John's restlessness finally 
appeased, his flaming temper quenched by Deborah's placid 
ways. The possibility of reunion is strong; but it is only con- 
jecture. 

Public affairs claimed John's last years, and in that part of 
the world which, as he had written, he chose to make the 
scene of the greatest actions of his life. 

He was appointed Speaker of the Assembly at Montserrat 
in 1698. 16 In the lists of names from which the respective 
Leeward Isles' councils were filled in 1699, John Scott, with 
others of the islands, was described generally as "of good 



LAST DAYS f 381 

sense, honesty, and repute." 17 As Council member he was 
also signatory of a petition in 1700 regarding a gubernatorial 
appointment, and the handwriting on this document (now in 
the Record Office), although somewhat subdued, is still the 
same distinctive signature of Scott as it appeared in the 
Preface of his Histories and on the New Amsterdam armi- 
stice agreement. 

Then comes the final entry among the public records of 
Bridgetown, Barbados, in 1704: his name is listed among the 
deaths, and the following year, it was recorded in the British 
state Papers. 

"And so," as his biographers invariably write, "nothing 
more is known of him." They had said that so often when 
he had helped bring out that little catechism for the In- 
dians; when he left Long Island to serve under Willoughby; 
when he feuded with Nicolls and took service with the Dutch. 

"Nothing more is heard of him." That was the end of 
John Scott. 

How wrong they were. 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

1. Braybrooke, Diary S. Pepys, IV, 292. 

2. Rawl. MSS., A 464, ff 88, 91. 

3. S-ampton TR., II, 73. 

4. CSP. Dom. 1681, 417, No. 207. 

5. Ibid., 419, No. 110. 

6. Ibid., 432, No. 35. 

7. Ibid., 433, No. 15. 

8. Montserrat Code of Laws, 1688-1788, p. 30. 

9. Add. MSS., 15, 556, f 120. 

10. SP. Dom. Warrant Bk., 39, f 240. 

11. HMC State Aff., Ill, 483; HMC Bucdeuch, II, 291-96. 

12. SP. Dom. Entry Bk., 167, f 394; Bk. 345, f 436. 

13. Braybrooke, Diary S. Pepys, IV, 26 (Edward Wright's letter to 
Pepys). 

14. Ibid. 

15. CSP Dom., 1682, p. 494. 

16. CSP Col. Ser. Am. and W. L, 1697-98, No. 995. 

17. Ibid., 1699, No. 659. 



EPILOGUE 



"Give me leave to hope these Histories may be of use* in 
the first place, to ministers of State who may now, with- 
out tedius examination of records ... be satisfied in a 
view both of what hath been disposed, and when. In case 
there be any differences, as there have been between 
colony and colony, by this means without trouble may be 
adjudged and decided." 

John Scott, Preface. 



FOR OVER TWO CENTURIES the turbulent spirit of John Scott 
was stilled, but it was not extinguished. The world was to 
hear more of him. He had swept through life like a high 
wind, stirring and stirred by controversy; but his comeback 
ultimately routed his enemies in a manner unexpected and 
surprising, yet oddly in keeping with his character. And his 
last appearance put the stamp of approval on his worth and 
integrity, wiping out, with a typical Scott flourish, the unwar- 
ranted reputation his contemporaries had bestowed on him. 

An urgent international crisis was the setting for his re- 
appearance: war or peace was at stake. To a certain extent 
John tipped the balance in a conflict over a boundary line. 
So it was land the disputed possession of land which brought 
him back. No occasion could have been more appropriate. 
How he would have relished the situation! It fulfilled his 
dearest hope as expressed in the Preface of his Histories! 

British Guiana was the region in question. For a century 
Venezuela and Great Britain had been wrangling over the 

382 



EPILOGUE f 383 

exact extent of their common South American boundary, 
each country claiming vast areas held by the other. In April, 
1895, the Venezuelan Government brought matters to a head 
by arresting two members of the British Guiana police force 
for trespassing on Venezuela territory. 

Shades of Long Island! How many times had John, in his 
day, adopted precisely the same tactics: charging trespass to 
challenge ownership by a Court decision. 

But nineteenth century imperialism was in full flower: the 
two police officers reported to their government: Venezuela, 
foreseeing trouble, asked for United States backing. In July 
1895 U.S. Secretary of State Richard Olney formally re- 
minded Great Britain that the Monroe Doctrine must be 
respected. But his intervention could not lightly be accepted 
by Queen Victoria's ministers, and the following October 
Great Britain sent Venezuela an ultimatum. This was judged 
high-handed defiance of American rights, and in December, 
President Cleveland, invoking the Monroe Doctrine, sent 
to Congress his startling message that any attempt by Great 
Britain to enforce claims upon Venezuela without resort to 
arbitration would be resisted "by every means in our power/* 

Ominously the war drums began to roll. 

Fortunately Commissions were immediately appointed- 
Great Britain's under Sir Frederick Pollock, that of the 
United States under Professor George L. Burr; and these, 
with a group of jurists and scholars, found themselves charged 
"at the cost of peace or war to find a true divisional line." 
Armed with quinine, bourbon, and a raft of maps they set off 
for the disputed area. 

They found a trackless jungle of swamp and forest 
threaded by rivers no white man had navigated. The stakes 
along the so-called Schomburgk Line which the British 
claimedhad long since disappeared and there was no hint 
where the two regions met. "There is and there can be, no 
true divisional line in the sense of the indubitable," declared 
the official American historical geographer. 



384 f EPILOGUE 

Diplomatic correspondence of a century was sifted, only to 
reveal that during the entire controversy no single claim had 
ever been made by either save under the express protest of 
the other. Neither country had direct proprietary rights, but 
each based its title on its Spanish or Dutch inheritance. It 
was therefore to the records of Spain and the Netherlands, 
rather than to those of Venezuela and Great Britain that the 
Commissioners turned for light. They began searching for 
evidence of who settled there first. 

And it was at this point that John Scott came into* the pic- 
ture. Scholars remembered Scott's account of his adventures 
in this obscure corner of the globe, now suddenly the proving 
ground of good faith and friendship between the two great 
Anglo-Saxon powers which had known him best. 

Not only had he commanded an expedition there in 1666- 
67, and captured "Moroco, Wacopou, Boromeo* and Isse- 
keob (Essequibo)," while together with Lieutenant-General 
William Byam, they "made themselves masters of the Atlantic 
coast of Guiana from Cayenne to North West Orinoco." But 
he had written about the Dutch West India Company's early 
trading stations and the Dutch claim, in 1621, to an exclu- 
sive right to colonize Guiana. A Dutch commander, the great 
Groenewegen, John wrote, "was the first man who took firm 
footing on Guiana by the good liking of the natives ... he 
helped Barbadoes with food and trade in 1627 . . . and died 
in 1664 at the age of 83 having been governor forty years." 

John's Histories were brought into the Arbitration Court 
as important contemporary writings, directly relevant to the 



* Part of Guiana, renamed Surinam, the English restored to Holland, 1674, 
in exchange for Manhattan, which the Dutch had reconquered during the 
Third Dutch War. In 1814, the English acquired another 20,000 square miles 
of Guiana from the Dutch; the Schomburgk Line had taken in (50,000 more 
square miles of the territory. And by 1885 this had grown to 76,000 square 
miles ... or altogether, 109,000 square miles. The area disputed by Great 
Britain and Venezuela had originally only concerned the Pomeroon region. 
(Ven. Briefs. Vol. VII.) 



EPILOGUE f 385 

solution of the issue!* 

The evidence was most upsetting to Venezuela's claims. 
John not only listed fourteen successive attempts Spanish, 
Dutch, English, French to colonize Guiana, but described 
Spain's continued failure to establish a settlement there. He 
quoted Hakluyt and his own contemporaries who refer to the 
same fact. 

The Americans saw their case suddenly slipping from their 
grasp. On behalf of the United States Commission, Profes- 
sors Burr and Jameson sprang to discredit the testimony. 

"The author of these papers, Major John Scott, somewhat 
famous in the history of Long Island and of New Netherland 
down to 1665," commented Professor Jameson, caustically, 
"has not the highest reputation. Lord Willoughby writes to 
Secretary Williamson, he has perchance told you some truth, 
but not all gospel.'* 1 

Colonel Netscher, the Dutch expert for the Americans, was 
particularly contemptuous of this "anonymous fragment out 
of a manuscript of the Sloane collection," as he described 
John's [signed] works, with its mention of a Captain "Crom- 
weagle" who died in 1664 after commanding for forty years. 
This was a Dutch skipper, corrected Netscher his name a cor- 
ruption of Groenewegel who acted as commander at Kij- 
koveral only after 1657, and who died in 1666 or 1667. 

But in court Netscher was proved wrong on all three 
counts. He had never read John's manuscript but only Bronk- 
hurst's copy of it with its altered spelling indeed, the ill- 
spelled Bronkhurst book was used all through the case. And 

* Some of John's work had heen previously published and noted by his- 
torians. Nearly all his Guiana description had been painstakingly transcribed 
by N. Darnell Davies and printed in a Guiana newspaper The Royal Gazette, 
July 24, 1879; and most of this had been copied again by a Wesleyan mis- 
sionary, M. H. V. P. Bronkhurst and incorporated in his book, The Colony 
of British Guiana, and its Laboring Population (London; 1883, pp. 45-53.) 
That the original manuscript in the British Museum had ever been over- 
looked was due to a curious accident! John had written Byam's Journal on 
the back of his Histories writing from the wrong end of the page, so that it 
was unfortunately bound upside down. 



386 f EPILOGUE 

before the Arbitration was concluded Professor Burr ad- 
mitted himself to be in error and that Scott was right in stat- 
ing that Groenewegen (not wegel, as Netscher insisted) was 
commander before 1657 and died in 1664. 2 

But the Americans stuck to their guns. There were errors 
in Scott's work; he was palpably wrong on certain points, 
which impugned all the rest. Their arguments against John's 
credibility with the single exception just above noted were 
based upon non-corroboration of existing contemporary rec- 
ordsa fallacious method surely, since the contemporary 
records had to such a large extent vanished. 

But "it seems difficult altogether to discredit it," lamented 
Burr. "The Zeeland expedition (Scott refers to) is historical. 
The passage regarding Barbados receives independent con- 
firmation from a contemporary source. The True Travels Ad- 
ventures and Observations of Captain John Smith, London, 
1630 in chapter 26, of which we read concerning Barbados: 
The first planters brought thither by Captain Henry Powel, 
were forty English, with seven or eight Negroes; then he went 
to Disacuba in the maine, where he got thirty Indians, men, 
women and children, of the Arawacos." 

But 'Burr maintained that not only were these Indians car- 
ried off without any aid from the Dutch, but that Powell 
knew nothing of the presence of the Dutch in the river. Scott 
therefore is clearly wrong. 

Scott, however (though they did not know it at the time), 
was right. (Appendix M.) 

To bolster Venezuela's case, Americans again threw doubt 
on John's character, impugning his veracity. How else de- 
stroy his arguments? The Pepysian affidavits were introduced 
as proof of the writer's unreliability. John's so-called court- 
martial was discussed in detail. Once again his character was 
at the mercy of those who only by blackening it could gain 
their own ends. For from a man of such repute this embar- 
rassing manuscript need be given little consideration. 

Great Britain took the attitude that it was a question of 



EPILOGUE f 387 

geography and history, not morals. Scott's character might 
be what it might but he obviously knew the continent under 
discussion and his histories told more about particular por- 
tions of it, and the men who had settled there, than anything 
brought to Court. 

There was endless discussion over the identification of 
Baroma or Barima which John had captured and in one in- 
stance called Bowroome. This place Great Britain claimed as 
the territorial limit of her Schomburgk Line. But Burr in- 
sisted that John meant, not Barima on the river Barima, but 
Pomeroone! 

"It is impossible to find in Scott's and in Byam's manuscript 
any warrant for the belief that the English found the Dutch 
in possession of any territory in Guiana west of the Colony of 
Pomeroon and the river Monica," Professor Burr maintained. 
"But they suggest how such a belief, though erroneous, may 
easily have arisen. I speak of H urn bold t f s impression that the 
Dutch had at this time a post at the mouth of the River 
Barima and of Mr. Schomburgk's much more explicit state- 
ment that 'it was at least in existence when the British under 
John Scott destroyed, in 1666, the fort of New Zeeland and 
plundered New Middleburgh. If this is true, Major John 
Scott ought to know/ Of course it hardly needs suggesting 
that both Humboldt and Schomburgk may possibly have been 
misled by the 17th century form Bowroom, Bowroome, 
Bowroma even Baroma of the name Pomeron. . . . Pom- 
eroon is a very modern spelling indeed." 

Considering that spelling at that time was largely a matter 
of personal whim, and that many a man, not infrequently 
spelled his own name three different ways in the same docu- 
ment, Burr had a point. But it was only a supposition. 

"A passage, which, if it were known/' continued Burr, 
"might easily have given rise to misunderstanding, and which 
has besides, an interest of its own, is Scott's description of 
Tobago: 'And in 1642, Captain Marshall from Barbadoes 



388 f EPILOGUE 

began a second Colony ... a flourishing colony, by the pres- 
ervation of the Arawacoes.' 

"Were there else reason for doubt," Burr concluded tri- 
umphantly, "the part played by the Arawak (Indians) would 
show that it is the Pomeroon and not the Barima which Scott 
meant, for he himself, in the preceding passage, assigned the 
Pomeroon region to them, the Barima to the Caribs (In- 
dians)." 

And after the case was over, Burr made light of it all by 
saying, "Here were two civilized states, ready to go to war 
over a claim that had no better objective basis than a German 
adventurer's misreading of an Indian name. 3 

But in the intensely nationalistic atmosphere during the 
arbitration attitudes were very different. As the case pro- 
ceeded, however, Netscher, who had doubted John's history 
as well as his geography, began receiving less and less atten- 
tion from the English and American investigators, and Burr 
and Jameson again had to admit reluctantly that "it is diffi- 
cult to discredit Scott's document." 

The arbitration lasted for years. 

John Scott did not, in the final analysis, determine the out- 
come, but he was a very material witness and Venezuela's 
claims were considerably reduced by his evidence. 

The verdict, handed down unanimously, in 1899, awarded 
Great Britain her Schomburgk Line, with the exception of a 
small strip of land ending at Point Barima, which was 
awarded to Venezuela that country getting two hundred 
square miles of the sixty thousand it had claimed. 

The American counsel tried hard to conceal its disap- 
pointment. But the real issue, it declared, was Point Barima. 

As far as John was concerned, the issue was of much 
greater importance. At the bar of history, he had not only 
redeemed his reputation, but the case had focused attention 
on his life and work. A few years later, John Pollock (relative 
of Sir Frederick, Great Britain's commissioner) published an 
exhaustive volume on the Popish Plot, in which John Scott 



EPILOGUE f 389 

appears as a conspicuous figure of unquestioned integrity! He 
was no infamous follower and supporter of Titus Gates, as 
some of his contemporaries would have us believe. Among all 
the shameful secret lists of paid informers, John's name was 
nowhere to be found. 

But the story of John's long over-due vindication was not 
finished. In 1901 an English historical scholar, the Rev. 
George Edmundson, than whom there was certainly no better 
authority in his particular field, contributed an article to the 
English Historical Review entitled The Dutch in Western 
Guiana, (vol 16, 640-675) in which he deplored the endeavors 
of Professors Burr and Jameson to discredit the Scott manu- 
script. Particularly as their arguments were adopted and re- 
peated in a manner implying that the last word on the subject 
had been said by those presenting Venezuela's case in court. 

Now that the issue was removed from politics, Edmundson 
set out to re-examine the whole question of settlements on the 
Essequibo arid the Pomeroon, applying yardsticks to John's 
manuscript he invariably adopted for the consideration of all 
original work. 

"The credibility of a writer relating otherwise unknown 
historical facts depends upon 1) his nearness to the events 
narrated; 2) his personal access to sure sources of information; 
3) his motives in writing; 4) his proved accuracy in cases 
where his statements can be verified. All these tests arc abso- 
lutely satisfactory in the instance of Major John Scott. . . ." 4 

And Edmundson, with a wealth of minute and incidental 
detail, culled from sources beyond question sources which 
his exceptional personal knowledge of Dutch and Spanish 
colonial history uncovered goes on to build up such a chain 
of cumulative evidence that the trustworthiness of the Scott 
narrative cannot but be accepted. And other English his- 
torians approve this view. 

It makes a happy ending to the tale of a man who was so 
long the center of controversy and who has been so deeply 
maligned. Even if it is only on one side of the Atlantic that 



390 f EPILOGUE 

his rehabilitation is acknowledged, acceptance of him at true 
value, everywhere, is bound to come. 

To the English John Scott must have seemed a last and 
lesser Elizabethan, a late product of the Renaissance who, in 
his swagger and versatility, would have felt completely at 
home in the Mermaid Tavern. 

But to Americans he surely stands for something different 
the foe of tyranny and undue privilege. By championing the 
citizen he anticipated Locke, father both of American democ- 
racy and English liberty. For this alone John Scott deserves a 
permanent place, however modest, among those whose lives 
and words prepared the way for the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence. 

And in today's world, where individual freedom is once 
again the major issue, no American can afford to overlook 
him. 

It took two centuries to prove the worth of his Histories 
. . . but life is long. "Time will do him great right/' wrote 
the woman who understood him best. And the serene judg- 
ment of history will one day substantiate her words. 

This book is but a beginning. 

Washington, D.C. 
Wonalancet, New Hampshire 
October, 1959 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 

1. U.S. Bound. Comm., I, 64; CSP Col. Ser. Am. and W. L, 1661-68, 
Nos. 1525, 1661. 

2. Brit. Bl. Bk., VIII, 53. 

3. Paper read before the American Historical Association at its New 
Haven meeting, April, 1899. Something of Burr's general attitude 
towards his colleagues can be discerned from his reference to the 
distinguished naturalist, Humboldt, as a "German adventurer."! 

4. Edrnundson, The Dutch in Western Guiana, E. H. R. XVI, 641. 



APPENDICES 



APPENDIX A 

An example of how the Massachusetts Bay Company exceeded its 
charter limitations and abused the King's power is nowhere more 
evident than in the handling of land grants. 

The territory under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts Bay included 
not only the original grant to the company, but also, during the more 
important part of its history, the territories of Maine (under its various 
names) and of Plymouth. The colony also claimed for a time the 
southern part of New Hampshire, and exercised powers of govern- 
ment there. It made itself felt for a long time in Rhode Island, and 
gave to the emigrants of Connecticut their first authority to form a 
settlement. 

Connecticut was settled and its government organized without any 
charter or grant, and the lands were purchased by the planters front 
the Indians as they had need of them. Mr. Trumbull, the historian. 
says "the settlers of the river towns had not before or after the agree- 
ment with Mr. Fenwick any right of jurisdiction, except such as grew 
out of occupation, purchase from the native proprietors, or (in the 
case of the Pequot territory) of conquest." Their policy seems to haTC 
been to dispose as quietly and as cheaply as possible of the claims of 
such as challenged their title, into the exact nature of which they 
were not disposed to provoke too close an investigation. (Conn. Pub. 
Rec., I, 569; Sidney Perley, Indian Land Titles, 25-28; Eggleston, Land 
System of N. E., 13.) 

APPENDIX B 

The struggle over the possession of Horse Neck or Lloyd's Neck (as it 
was sometimes called) went on from 1653 until 1886, and is a striking 
example of the way land was disputed in colonial days. Earliest mention 
of this place is in a deed the Earl of Stirling issued to Mathew Sunder- 
land, seaman of Boston, who bought two little necks of land: one on 

391 



392 f APPENDICES 

the east side of Oyster Bay, called Horse Neck; the Earl's title to this 
land was disputed, and repudiated. Horse Neck was sold by the In- 
dians to Samuel Mayo in 1654. (Oy. Bay T. R., I, 629.) He took the 
precaution of having his deed confirmed by the great Sachem Wyan- 
danch, then resold the property to Samuel Andrews, for 100 in a 
deed recorded at a notary's office in Massachusetts. (Hunt. T. R., I, 16.) 
Andrews, to make assurance doubly sure, had a further confirmation 
of his title to Horse Neck by Wiancombe, son of Wyandanch (after 
the Great Sachem's death) (Ibid.), and insisted that it (Horse Neck) 
be annexed to the township of Oyster Bay. 

Despite all these hostile deeds, Huntington maintained its right to 
that peninsula. And when it was sold again to John Riclvbell (who 
immediately became involved in a counterclaim by one Conkling), the 
town ordered all its inhabitants (May 30th, 1665) to drive their cattle 
to Horse Neck meadows for a whole day, in order to manifest their 
right to the property. This bold act resulted in Richbell bringing 
suit for trespass against the town of Huntington. 

Held in the newly established General Court of Assizes in New 
York from September 28th to October 4th, 1665, inclusive, this was 
one of the first cases to be tried under English Common Law, after 
the Dutch had been driven from New Amsterdam. The verdict was 
given first in favor of Huntington. But Richbell immediately appealed 
the decision, and the Court reconsidered the evidence. Taking into 
consideration the fact that Huntington had expressed the intention 
of buying Horse Neck in 1654 (when it had been offered to Sam Mayo 
. . . but that their agent, John Gosby, had arrived too late to make the 
purchase), the Court decided that this was tantamount to an ac- 
knowledgment that the peninsula was not then, according to the 
original purchase, in the town's possession. So it reversed the jury's 
verdict. It placed Horse Neck outside Huntington and barred off one 
third of its seashore, while to John Richbell, it awarded possession of 
the said Neck with all appurtenances. Governor Nicolls formally con- 
firmed this with the prescribed " by-turf -and-twig" ceremony and 
phraseology, December 18, 1665. In 1667, Richbell sold this disputed 
land to Nathaniel Sylvester of Shelter Island, and Governor Richard 
Nicolls gave him a Patent to it, November 20th, 1667 (on payment of 
a quit rent to the formal new Long Island owner, the Duke of York). 
There was another colonial confirmation grant made of the same 
territory by Governor Andros in 1677. 

In 1685 the land passed to James Lloyd, married to Gri/zell, Nathan- 
ial Sylvester's daughter, who had inherited it from her father. With 
this transfer, the property was created a Lordship or Manor of Queen's 
Village, and some form of local government in civic affairs was con- 
ferred with this grant. The dispute over its boundaries with the Town 
of Huntington nevertheless continued. In March, 1686, a very de- 
tailed agreement was drawn up between James Lloyd and certain of 



APPENDICES f 393 

the townsmen (presumably trustees), operating on order of a Town 
Meeting, since actually, legal trustees of the town did not exist until 
1688. 

This settlement measured the exact area in mathematical terms, de- 
fining the line from shore to upland meadow, from east to west and 
north to south. It was considered a definitive solution; but those who 
adopted this optimistic view did not know Huntington. The matter 
came up again for arbitration in 1734, and at that date monuments 
were erected along the revised boundary line, and quitclaims by the 
respective parties were then executed. 

By an act of legislation passed by New York State in 1886, Lloyd's 
Neck (as it was finally termed) was annexed to Huntington for ad- 
ministrative purposes. But the old line, established in 1734 is still 
more important since it continues to be the line of title as to private 
ownership. Though the township and county line have been extin- 
guished by the 1886 ruling, the line of title is that of 1734, or in- 
trinsically the one established by Sachem Wyandanch, the friend of 
John Scott. (Hunt. T. R., I, 59-60, 74-79; 105-107; 24n, 419, 438-9.) 

John Scott was himself once owner of 150 acres of Lloyd's Neck. He 
bought them from John Richbell, then sold them to Major-Gcneral 
John Leverctt, of Boston for "a competent sum of money," who in 
turn, sold them back to Richbell thereby considerably increasing their 
value. This transaction was duly recorded before a Massachusetts 
notary public August 2nd, 1664. And Scott's original deed, in im- 
peccable legal terms, is in James Lloyd's vellum book of deeds, pp. 
11-13. (N. Y. Hist. Soc. Coll, LIX, 13.) 

This land, after being sold to John Scott by Wyandanch was sold 
a second time by his widow and heiress, the Sunk Squa, to the in- 
habitants of Setauket (Br-haven T. R. (1880 eel.), I, 12; (1924 ed.), II, 99) 
in June, 1664, for 4 coats, 4 pairs of stockings, a pipkin of powder, 
2 bars of lead, 6 hoes, 10 hatchets, 10 knives, 6 more coats, 4 shirts 
and 3 kettles. "Massetewse and the Sunk Squaw, native proprietors 
and owners of all the lands belonging to the trace of land commonly 
called the Quid Mans do freely and absolutely sell and will defend the 
title to the inhabitants of Setawket and their successor forever . . ." 
(Ibid.) 

APPENDIX C 

Much has been made of a little American publication which John 
may have shown his friends at this time to interest them in Long 
Island. This was a Catechism, translated by Southampton's Parson, 
Abraham Pierson, into the Quiripi dialect of the Algonquin language. 
The New England Commissioners had ordered the tract which was 
sent to London for publication about 1657. But the manuscript was 



394 f APPENDICES 

lost en route in a wreck, and the aged pastor had to begin his work 
again. He decided to publish in Cambridge, Massachusetts, but could 
find no one to "oversee a true printing." Sick and in despair he wrote 
to the Commissioners complaining of his difficulties in getting assist- 
ance. (Conn. Hist. Soc. Coll. (1895), III, 6.) The government inter- 
preter, Thomas Stanton, who had helped him with the translation of 
the text could not (or would not) revise it when printed. (He was 
feuding with the Commissioners over his reduced salary, which might 
explain his reluctance to take on this literary task.) 

Did John Scott read and correct the proofs? The question arises 
since the title page on John's London copy differs in one detail from 
the Cambridge edition. The American inscription reads "Some helps 
for the Indians . . . showing them how to improve their natural rea- 
son . . . etc." 

By Abraham Pierson 

"Examined and approved by Thomas Stanton and by some others 
of the most able interpreters etc. etc." 

Set in somewhat heavier type, John's title page was identical except 
that there was no mention of Thomas Stanton. The last line reads 
"Examined and approved by that experienced gentleman (in the In- 
dian language) Captain John Scot." 

There is no record that John was among those "others" who had 
helped in the translation. But he did know Indian dialects; he was a 
friend of the Piersons, and a fellow Atherton Company member with 
Stanton. What more likely than that he proofread the galleys for the 
old man, and being John, was loath to let such a fact remain unknown 
when there was a chance of proclaiming it in one of the self-laudatory 
inscriptions which were then all the literary fashion? 

That the title page was substituted in England seems probable, since 
it reads printed "for" Samuel Green, instead of the more usual Amer- 
ican printed "by," in the original. 

This altered title page elicited no surprise comment or complaint at 
the time from either Pierson or Stanton. John could have even been 
asked to sponsor the publication abroad, going as he did, on a semi- 
official mission to London. Or his name could have been inserted on 
order: 'John Scott/ friend of Wyandanch, well known to the Mon- 
tauks, meant far more to Long Island Indians than 'Thomas Stanton/ 
a Massachusetts man. 

It was only in the nineteenth century, after the publication of Pepys' 
affidavits, that writers began to inveigh against John's vainglorious act, 
some going so far as to accuse him of trying to pass off the work as 
his own. An accusation the title page itself clearly disproves. 

John's volume finally found its way into the hands of the bibliophile 
Sir Hans Sloane, among whose collection it reposes today in the 
British Museum. 



APPENDICES f 395 



APPENDIX D 

The Jenks Pedigree 

This Scott pedigree is usually known as the Jenks pedigree since it 
belonged to William Jenks, Esq., of 38 Nevada Street, Newtonville, 
Massachusetts, who had it from his grandfather, the Reverend Dr. 
William Jenks of Boston, who died in 1866. Mr. Jenks could not say 
how his grandfather came into possession of the scroll (he was not a 
Scott descendant), but thinks that it came from a Scott-Jenks relative 
who did claim kinship. 

From his exhaustive study of this pedigree, the genealogist Mr. 
Henry Edward Scott considers that it contains valuable material, 
though there are also slips (mostly in names of wives), which show 
that some details are based on hearsay. None of these errors, accord- 
ing to this distinguished scholar, constitutes any evidence against the 
descent of John Scott of Long Island from the Scotts of Scot's Hall. 

It is upon the Jenks pedigree that James Renat Scott based much of 
his information in making his own pedigree included in his publica- 
tion, The Scotts of Scot's Hall Memorials. 

In the Heraldic Journal for July, 1865, Vol. I, pp. 103-4, a descrip- 
tion of this last-named pedigree is printed, mentioning Sir William 
Scott, ambassador to Turkey and Florence, buried in Brabourne in 
1621. That burial date is erroneous. The will of Sir William, late of 
Brabourne, was proved by his widow, Barbara Scott, August 12th, 
1617. (Act Books of the Archdeaconry, Court of Canterbury, Bk. 28, 
f 82.) It is from this Sir William Scott that our John stems. 

APPENDIX E 

This Ashford development (called variously Setauket, or Brookhaven) 
scene of yet another clash between John Scott and John Winthrop, 
covered a vast tract of abandoned Indian planting grounds, about 
forty miles west of Southold, a town which by the terms of its original 
charter was under New Haven's jurisdiction. 

In 1654 a group of Southold men bought from the local Setauket 
Sachem, Warawakme, all this land, acting only as agents, for they 
did not develop it and only one or two lived on it. 

In 1659 Governor Winthrop, bent on extending his frontiers and 
anxious to acquire Long Island property, sent Captain Underbill, 
to Setauket to prevail upon the few straggling settlers there to put 
themselves under Connecticut's jurisdiction. In the name of these 
poor uneducated souls (for their early Town Records reveal a most 
unusual condition of illiteracy.) Underbill "petitioned" Winthrop in 
1659 that the inhabitants of "Cromwell Bay" (as he called it) be taken 
under Connecticut's wing. (Conn. Arch. Towns & Lands, I, f 37n.) 



396 f APPENDICES 

Since this land, as belonging to Southolders, was then under New Haven, 
the petition had little relevance. 

In 1662 after Winthrop got his new Charter (which included New 
Haven) he made a second try to get a foothold on Long Island. He 
suggested that Southold send delegates to Connecticut and that 
Captain Youngs should be chosen. (Ibid.) 

Again he met with opposition, for New Haven was at that time 
strenuously fighting absorption by Connecticut. 

The contest for private ownership of Setauket land was principally 
over the large tract Scott had selected for a homestead, and seems to 
have been basically a contest over equities i.e., Indian title, plus 
settlement. Neither Winthrop nor Scott had the English title. Win- 
throp's title proceeded from local Setauket Indians, without settlement, 
and would seem to have been inferior to Scott's title proceeding from 
local Indians as well as that of the reigning Montauk tribe, with the 
consent of the Sunk Squa, who had given John her power of 
attorney. (S-hampton T.R., II, 37.) In addition, he had settled the 
place, beginning his planting as early as 1662. His was neither a case 
of absentee landlordship, nor of speculation in undeveloped lands. 
Moreover, Scott fortified his title to this area by a further investiture, 
"by turf and twig" from Mahmasuttee and Mr. Goodyer, native 
proprietors, November 23rd, 1663, some two years before Winthrop's 
deed. (Conn. Arch. MSS., I, ff 312-313.) 

To make sure he was not running into other men's plots, he bought 
from Robert Plumer "all lands he stood possessed of about the town 
of Ashford." (Ibid., Towns & Lands, I, f 37n.) And in his contract 
with his partners, some of them early Setauket settlers, he added a 
Memorandum to the effect that the said parties "had no manner of 
right, title or interest in any lands east of the within-named John 
Scott His western fence, six rods west of Nanemosett Brook." This they 
all signed. (Ibid., MSS., I, IT 312-313.) 

Compensation was offered some settlers whose property crossed 
John's boundaries (Rawl. MSS., A 175, f 103); though six of these men 
later signed a document swearing the agreement had been made under 
a misapprehension of John's power given him by the King, "wherein 
they considered themselves comprehended." (Ibid., f 10.) 

These Setauket residents, including Richard Woodhull, their magis- 
trate, settled all differences with John Scott by an agreement dated 
December 5th, 1663 (Br-haven T.R. (1880 ed.) I, 8), appointment of 
a committee headed by John Underbill, to discuss this agreement 
was made at a Brookhaven town meeting, held January 23rd, 1664. 
(Ibid. (1924 ed.), I, 74). 

The New Amsterdam Armistice, signed February 24th, 1664, recites 
that John Youngs averred that it was the desire of Connecticut to 
accommodate such a settlement as stated in the Armistice Agreement. 
(Conn. Pub. Rec., I, 390.) 



APPENDICES t 397 

It would seem then, that Winthrop had at first resigned himself to 
Scott's proprietorship of Setauket, and then later changed his mind, 
which might have had something to do with the arbitrary arrest and 
trial of Scott. For while the latter was in Winthrop's jail, Winthrop 
secured a deed to the Setauket lands from the Unchachogue sachem, 
Tobaccus, taking a statement from this local chieftain that "he sold 
no land to John Scott" (Br-haven T.R. (1880 ed.), I, 13), though John 
never claimed that he had. 

Winthrop's designs on this Long Island property, however, were 
interrupted by the arrival of the Duke of York's fleet, in August 1664, 
and the appointment of Colonel Nicolls as governor of New York, 
within whose charter Long island was definitely fixed. So Setauket 
could never be had through Winthrop's own courts. Winthrop made 
an agreement with Nicolls that all that had been done by Connecticut 
on Long Island should continue in force, and suggested that the ar- 
rangement which Scott had made with the Setauket residents be 
annulled, and John be given permission to sell back to the town his 
land, and Scot's Hall, with its extensive fencing. (Ibid. (1924 ed.), II, 
74, 75.) Winthrop wrote to Nicolls, February 1, 1665, that Scott's claims 
to the Setauket land, purchased from the Indians, would be destructive 
of the plantation there (N.Y. Col. Does. Ill, 85), and this letter would 
seem to be an acknowledgment that John did indeed possess the 
Indian title. Winthrop did not, at this time, make any accusation of 
fraud or duress, or even indicate John's lack of title, but he pointedly 
reminded Nicolls of the hitter's agreement to abide by Connecticut's 
land ruling on Long Island. 

When John's lands were confiscated outright, 1665, the Winthrop 
and Matthias Nicolls families profit ted by them, later (1680) securing 
the English title to them. (Thompson, Hist, of L.I., I, 61 1.) 

In none of these contemporary writings and documents is there any 
suggestion of fraudulent dealing, with which the great historian 
Brodhead charged John. To buttress this accusation he appended 
eight source references, only one of which refers to John's land, and 
this is not conclusive evidence as it goes back to a hearsay report from 
the Pepys affidavits. It must be remembered, however, that when 
Brodhead accused Scott, very few of the town and court records had 
been transcribed, and few scholars were willing to seek out local records 
concerning a man who had already, with the publication of Pepys' 
Diary in 1825, been branded as a rascal. 

APPENDIX F 

The charges against John Scott were: 

1. Speaking words tending to the defamation of the King's Majesty. 

2. Seditious practices and tumultuous carriages in several planta- 
tions. 



398 f APPENDICES 

3. Abetting and encouraging the natives in hostile practices against 
one another. 

4. Usurping the authority of the King in tending to pardon treason, 
as Scott called the crime, for bribes. 

5. Threatening His Majesty's subjects with hanging and banishment. 

6. Gross and notorious profanation of God's Holy Day. 

7. Forgery, and violation of his solemn oath. 

8. Acting treacherously to the Colony of Connecticut. 

9. Usurping authority upon pretense of a commission. 

10. Calumniating a Commission officer in this Corporation, with the 
charge of villainous and felonious practices. 

APPENDIX G 
Col. S.P. Col. Am. & W. Indics-1661-1668-P. 480 P.R.D. 

July 12, 1667 (1524) Calendered: "Major Scott's Relation (Relac.ori) 

The 23rd May Lt. Gen. Willoughby on the earnest motion of the 
Nevis people and for resettling Antigua, Montserrat Saba and Anguila 
and asserting His Majesty's interest in St. Christopher's, departed with 
the Jersey an East India merchant and a victualler, arrived at Nevis 
on 26 where they found the successful fleet under Capt. Berry, who 
a few days before fought the French and the Dutch at least three 
times their number in ships and men, and (original But God assisting, 
the English) after a sharp dispute chased them into their sanctuary 
and remained masters of the seas. Their army consisting of 3,200 men 
was mustered 2nd June, and on the 6th they were preparing for 
landing at St. Christopher's, the forlorn of 700 men placed in boats, 
the reserve in yatch's, and the main body in ships, the distance between 
the Road at Nevis where they lay at St. Christopher's being five 
leagues; all committed to Capt. Carteret, Admiral, but no signal could 
be given for fear of alarming the enemy, and the boats not being 
towed sayled several courses for want of particular orders and the 
darkness of the night. When the day began to shew itself and we 
should have landed between fate and fault we were at a strange 
distance out from the others, which in all likelihood we had landed 
with little loss which maritime error put a period to that service. 
On the 7th a plan was dijested which is described, for at 4 in the 
morning (original: at the rising of the moon) of the 8th but weigh- 
ing later than was designed (original: when the curtains of the 
night were drawn, yielding their command to Phoebus) gave the 
French too much notice (of the landing). "And now began the tragedy; 
the forlorn, the greatest part being landed under Capt. Cotter an 
Irish gentleman and the reserve under Col. Stapleton, Major Scott 
(myself original) and many others; there grew a dispute between the 



APPENDICES f 399 

English and the Irish officers, and the Irish refused to follow the guide 
appointed by the Lt. Gen. and attempted a gully, where after some 
slight wounds, they were taken, he will not say surrendered to the 
French but their soldiers of the same nation by a general shout sur- 
rendered themselves to the enemy, while most of the English officers 
and soldiers found graves, and those few that survived galled the 
enemy till the French (though there were not above 100 English) and 
they, their whole army of horse and foot, after many sallies upon them, 
made them a tender of their lives, which many would not accept but 
committed themselves to the sea, and several were saved by the 
bravery of the boats, the Lt. General himself venturing very frankly to 
save his men. After anchoring at Basse-terrc the Lieutenant sent on 
the 9th to the French to desire burial for the slain, careful usage for 
the wounded prisoners and exchange of prisoners and to say that he 
would exact satisfaction for the breach of Articles and inhumanities at 
Antigua and Montserrat before he left the Leeward Isles. To which 
the French General St. Lawrence answered that all humanity might 
be expected to dead, wounded, and prisoners that gentlemen of France 
needed no spur; that a trench had been made for the dead, that 
prisoners should be exchanged, and that as to breach of Articles, M. 
Cletheroe, Governor of Martinico, commanded at Antigua and 
Montserrat, and that the gentlemen of St. Christopher's abhorred all 
breach of faith and they deserved only such treatment for French or 
Dutch as they afforded to the King of Great Britain's subjects; and 
that as to the Lt. General's resolution to have satisfaction, the great of 
France arc ever prepared to receive an enemy, and that the island 
would receive no greater strengtli than the King of England can send, 
unless he employ his whole fleet from Europe to take St. Christopher'sl 
(Orig.: That he observed from their first victory on that island the 
very elements fighting for them) Sir John Harmon arrived June 13th 
with the Lion, Crown, Newcastle, Dover, Bonaventure, Assistance, 
Assurance and five ships, 2 ketches, but before he arrived the Lt. 
General had despatched men and ammunition to Antigua and 
Montserrat and other islands that have suffered by the French and 
where he had ordered forts to keep possession for his Majesty for 
reasons given. In this vacancy Sir J. Harman destroyed the whole 
French fleet of 24 good ships at anchor at Martinico, and is returned 
to Nevis, having visited the new settled island in his way. This 12th 
July (Major Scott) I was despatched by Lt. General "to capitulate 
the Capricious humours of the French, negotiate the exchanges of 
prisoners and make the best judgment I could of their strength, which 
I find to be, one veteran regiment of Picardy, about 700 horse, a 
forlorn of dragoons, about 2500 planters, though the French say 4000. 
Yet the Lt. General unless Sir Tobias Bridge, the gravity of some others 
accustomed to a more methodical way of fighting more for profit than 



400 f APPENDICES 

danger, doth divert, will in a few days make another attempt on St. 

Christophers where if they once get footing, they need not doubt 

being masters of the island. 

Indorsed by Williamson 
Major Scott's Relation 
till 12 July 1667-6 pp. 

APPENDIX H 

How an exchange of epithets was magnified into a court-martial is 
a tribute to a lawyer's handling of material, building a case upon the 
slenderest premise. Pepys certainly would have known ^Cotter for 
that young officer was sent to England to speed up the regimental 
pay, and on such an errand would necessarily go to Pepys who was 
the Admiralty's Clerk of the Acts. 

As is stated in the sworn affidavit: "Lord Willoughby subsequently 
gave Cotter leave to go to England . . . for the concern of his regi- 
ment, adding, that if anything has been reported to his prejudice by 
one Captain Scott, I do hereby certify it to be notoriously false. And 
if he (Scott) had stayed until he had come to his trial his smooth tongue 
would not have saved him." 

There is no official confirmation of this statement. Indeed this con- 
tradicts Willoughby's own words as recorded in the state papers. (S.P. 
Col. Ser. Am. & W. I., 1661-68, No. 1580.) 

Cotter was the only officer who was not promoted when Bridge's 
regiment was disbanded. (Col. Pop., XXII, 100.) Even in 1671 he was 
still only Captain Cotter. (Ibid., XXVII, 29.) A disappointed resentful 
man blaming John's verbal report for his lack of promotion might well 
be steered into exaggerated derogatory details, under skillful question- 
ing, about the St. Christopher engagement. 

The other witnesses at this alleged court martial were mostly il- 
literate seamen, signing with their mark and making gross errors as 
to dates and place names. It was these who told of Scott's "skulking 
under a rock" (Rawl. MSS., A. 175, f 149) a distortion of du Tertre's 
vivid description of "men hurled down the precipice, showered with 
boulders till forced to take refuge, etc." 

Of the three contemporary accounts of the fight, Henry Willoughby's 
letter to his father (5.P. Col. Ser. Am. b W. I., 1661-68, No. 1498), 
Scott's Relation (Ibid., 1524), and du Tertre's (Hist., IV, 266-76), the 
last is certainly long enough, and frank enough concerning Scott's 
general behavior to have included had it been true some mention 
of the ridiculous figure he was supposed to have cut during the en- 
gagement. 

In a fairly recent publication (Higham, Leeward Isles, p. 59), the 
English historian C. S. Higham accuses Scott of being violently anti- 
Irish, and declares that neither Henry Willoughby nor du Tertre makes 



APPENDICES f 401 

any mention of the surrender. [He is wrong; du Tertre does.] "Scott 
was a brilliant rogue" (Ibid., p. 59), Higham goes on to say, quoting 
the Rawlinson manuscripts. "It seems that he wished to shield himself 
from censure and did his best to throw the blame (for defeat) on those 
who could not answer his accusations." 

It is obvious who was really being shielded. That other officers knew 
about and hushed up Henry Willoughby's drunken condition seems 
likely from the petition to Charles II of one Abraham Sumers, "a 
maimed soldier, who served under Sir Thomas Bridge in the West 
Indies for upwards two years without pay, and is now, on his return 
to England, threatened by Captain Mallett, who commanded his com- 
pany, with the loss of his ears and that he would run him through 'if 
he makes oaths against Lord Willoughby concerning the loss of St. 
Christopher.'" (CSP Col. Ser. Am. & W. I., 1661-68, No. 1911.) 

APPENDIX I 

A single official reference gives a hint as to how the hanging rumor 
started. A letter to Lord Arlington from his Rotterdam agent, Silas 
Taylor, mentions a fact liable to distortion: "Drums are beating all 
day for Colonel Scott and for seamen, and commanding those that are 
entertained to repair to their duties on pain of death." (S.P. Dom. Car., 
II, No. 220.) 

John Scott's former Dutch regiment (like those of other foreign 
officers who quit) did not immediately "repair to duty" as it was not 
placed on a war footing until 1673. (Ten Raa, Ilet St. Leg., p. 495.) 
This could have angered the mob, had they known about it very little 
was needed to trigger their fury. 

On the other hand, Taylor's information could refer to William 
Scott (son of Thomas Scott the regicide) who, contrary to Charles II's 
orders, was one of those who "treasonably served as colonel in the 
wars against their own country." He was ordered home to undergo 
trial for high treason. This order is indexed in English state papers 
under "William Scott, conspirator." (CSP Dom. Car. f II, CLII, 24.) 
He had been in and out of prison for various offenses and has been 
frequently confused with John Scott. Both were in the Low Countries 
on secret service at practically the same time. William, however, did 
not communicate directly with the Secretary of State. lie sent his 
news under the pseudonym Celadon, to Mrs. Aphra Behn, whose lover 
he was. This brilliant playwright had brought him over with her when 
Charles II sent her to Holland for some special reporting. Neither Mrs. 
Behn nor her lover met with Williamson's approval and Arlington 
thought their judgment of "doubtful value." 

John's quarrel with Despontejn would probably never have reached 
the public's ears. Nor is it likely that a dispute over a small sum of 
company money could arouse citizens to mob violence. 



402 f APPENDICES 

APPENDIX J 

Scott deposed that: 

About August 1st, 1675, he was invited by M. PeUissary, Treasurer- 
General of the French Navy and by Captain Pyroge'rie* both Protes- 
tantsto his house and there shown: divers maps and sea journals, one 
of them of Captain Munden's voyage to St. Helena, draughts of the 
King of England's best-built ships, fourteen sheets of closely written 
English containing in what manner the Navy and English Admiralty 
were governed; also the number of the King's ships, their several ages 
and conditions they were in, the number of guns severally, and in what 
harbors they lay; what ships were at sea; the strength and Weakness of 
those places where those in harbor lay; with the fighting instructions 
upon several occasions both before and since the Restoration from 
1652; the methods of quartering men in sea fights with abundance of 
other circumstances relating to the Navy and a marginal note thus: 
(His Majesty's stores are very inconsiderable and our guns want a 
fourth part of the number of yours; and in one place mention is made 
of the dissatisfaction of English seamen for want of Pay and proposi- 
tions of what ways a great number of them might be carried into the 
French King's service). 

And at the same time Pelissary showed this deponent five large maps 
and charts, 

1) of Gravesend, to the falls of Galloper; 

2) the sands and soundings of Essex and Kent exactly described; 

3) the river Medway from Rochester Bridge to the mouth of that 
river where it falls into the Thames; 

4) Portsmouth and adjacent places; 

5) the Isle of Wight, very detailed with remarks on its present con- 
dition and what propositions had been made for rendering it 
more defensible; 

6) Plymouth the Sound and harbor, island and new fortifications on 
one large parchment skin; 

7) plans of Sheerness and Tilbury 

The deponent swears that these fourteen sheets sent for the said 
Pelissary by the Marquis de Seigneley (eldest son of M. Colbert) to be 
by him sent to M. Pyrogcry (knowledgeable in sea affairs) that Captain 
Deane (now Sir Anthony) had brought them out of England to the 
said Marquis by orders of Mr. Pepys. And the deponent swears that 
he believes M. Pelissary's information to be true because this de- 
ponent saw a letter at M. P^lissary's house, subscribed S. Pepys in Mr. 
Pepys' handwriting (as this deponent believes, because he often saw it 
since) which letter was directed to the said Marquis, and in that letter 

* Hcrouard de la Piogerie, Major of the Marine, serving at Besanc,on in 
May, 1674. (Mar. Docs. B2 XXV. f 121) precisely at the time John was in 
Besanc,on, and where they probably met. 



APPENDICES j" 403 

mention was made of the said paper and maps and that Captain 
Deane should give an explanation of them. 

The said Captain Deane walking in M. P emissary's garden under the 
window, this deponent heard him tell a gentleman that was walking 
with him (his interpreter? Itm) that the said Deane brought the 
writing and above-mentioned from Mr. Pepys and that Mr. Pepys 
would not have parted with them for 40,000 had it not been for 
that greatest end (which was an expression used in the letter). And 
this deponent further makcth oath that M. Pdissary having been walk- 
ing in the garden with Sir Anthony Deane as aforesaid, the said 
M. PeUissary came into the house to this deponent and told him that 
he and said Pepys had committed a great Error, for, said he, I was 
telling Captain Deane that there was a countryman of his whose com- 
pany he would be glad of; the Captain asked who it was and I told 
him, Colonel Scott. With that, the Captain prayed me not to let him 
come into my company, because, said he, I have positive orders not to 
see him, and further said, I hope you have not told him any of the 
business I came about, nor shewed him any of those papers. So that 
M. Pelissary was forced to deny it (as he said) and caused this de- 
ponent to dine privately in his House; and this deponent further 
swears that he, being at M. Pyrogtfry's lodgings in the Faubourg St. 
Germain in Paris the following January, he did see and read the very 
papers, charts and letters above-mentioned; where, speaking of them 
to another French Protestant gentleman and an officer of the Navy, 
the said gentleman said he hoped that these great Rogues that would 
betray their own country are not of our religion. To that M. Pyroge*ry 
replied: 'They are of the Devil's religion.' 

There is a mystery in this business, more than I dare speak of, 
therefore let us talk no more of it. And this deponent further swears 
that at the beginning of the year 1676, when the French armature be- 
gan to take the English ships, the deponent went to M. Pyrogery and 
talked with him about it, and told him that it would beget a mis- 
understanding between the two kingdoms. The said monsieur shook 
his head and replied: I wish that that were the greatest ill that would 
befall the poor Nation. Did you not take notice of an odd expression 
in that traitor Pepys ... his letter near the end of it. 

John Scott 

The deponent further swears . . . concerning the contents of Pepys' 
letter . . . that the occasion of Captain Deane bringing the yatches 
was very lucky as he was fully instructed and would give his Lordship 
(the Marquis de Seigneley) an explanation of those things; and at the 
end of the said letter (thus) I doubt not in a little time to give your 
Lordship better light in order to the great end mentioned to your 
Ambassador here. 

John Scott 
Endorsed Pemberton. 

(Morn., I, ff 17, 18, 19, 20.) 



404 f APPENDICES 



APPENDIX K 

Pepys could not possibly have examined closely the papers seized in 
John Scott's Cannon Street rooms else he could hardly have called 
them of "ill-importance." There were many Dutch newspaper clip- 
pings (excerpts from English parliamentary records, etc.), material any 
good political agent would be likely to collect. (Rawl. MSS. A. 176, 
ff, 1-25, 62, 65, 79, 100-01, 113, 123.) The complete list is a follows: 

Poems, copies of personal letters to Constantia, Lady Vane, speeches 
(some dated 1668) of de Witt and the Prince of Orange; Dutch military 
manuals; infantry regulations; a map of the Amazon; two religious 
tracts; lines on the death of Talbot with some Latin comment; a copy 
of Governor Winthrop's letter from New England to Charles II (con- 
cerning the renewal of Connecticut's Charter); copies of several letters 
to and from Sir Joseph Williamson (at Cologne for peace negotiations) 
discussing Holland's "perplexities;" a long formula for transmuting 
metals; pages torn from the Parliamentary Record (Hansard) concern- 
ing business with Flanders, including the King's speech telling of 
marrying his niece to the Prince of Orange and the reply of Commons; 
various Parliamentary Resolutions concerning the English-Dutch alli- 
ance, together with notes from various Committees on Privileges, Bill 
for Poor Prisoners, enforcing the buying of wool, prohibiting wool 
exports, etc.; the Lord Chancellor's speech on the King's League with 
Holland; a paper on the reasons offered at the Conference concerning 
dangers and growth of Popery; and Mr. Williamson's proposals before 
the House concerning Dutch peace negotiations, etc. 

Estimates for requisite charges for repairing several fortifications 
necessary, to be completed in the summer of 1677, in the ports of Gos- 
port, Portsmouth, Sittingham, Cockham Wood, Tilbury, Gravesend; 
on the Thames several small castles, moats, forts and castles north- 
wards at Harwich, several castles on the Isle of Wight, Guernsey, Jer- 
sey. This all looks like routine inspection material of no particular 
value or importance. 

There were pages from the Office of Ordnance (dated 1677), with 
an abstract of a charge (costs?) to attend his Majesty's forces designed 
for Holland, with lists of costs for field-pieces, spare equipage, bridge 
boats, mortar pieces, fire works, necessities for the mortar pieces. This 
all carefully totalled. 

There were various Navy estimates, taken from a Parliamentary 
Committee publication dated 1659 (not classified material and accessi- 
ble to anyone). John might well have used this as a rough model for 
his own requirements when he was requisitioning material for the 
Dutch regiments under his command in 1669-72, an activity about 
which Pepys knew absolutely nothing. 



APPENDICES f 405 



APPENDIX L 

John Scott and Land 

John Scott's name has been so tarnished as the result of Pepys' 
affidavit*, that it is especially necessary to consult contemporary docu- 
ments concerning his land transactions. Even the great Brodhead, 
charging John with "fraudulent dealing/' quotes only hearsay to sup- 
port this charge. 

Certainly a perverse fate pursued John's reputation, partly owing 
to the fact that John Scott is a very common name, and mistakes in 
identity easy to make. 

For instance among the numerous letters in the Massachusetts His- 
torical Society Collections, 4th Series, VII, vindicating John after 
Governor Winthrop had arrested him in 1663, are two written by 
Richard Vines to Winthrop Senior (Ibid., 343-4-5). These are indexed 
along with the others and involve John Scott in "sundry seditious and 
malicious practices," creating the impression that he was at variance 
with the law over certain land titles. 

These two letters were written in 1643. They do not refer to our 
man, who at that date was only 11 and had hardly reached the New 
World. 

Two other references to a John Scott's fraudulent transactions figure 
in a legal suit in Albany, New York, charging that he stole out at 
night to deal surreptitiously with the Indians, for which he was con- 
victed (Hist. Docs, of N. Y., V, 569); also accusations of "clandestine 
purchases," cited in the Land Papers (Cal. of N. Y. Col. MSS., pp. 
162-4-5; and pp. 665-6). These charges are elated respectively 1720 and 
1722 when our John had been dead several years. 

In 1663 John Scott of Long Island was involved in a local cause 
celebre concerning a tract of country lying to the west of Southamp- 
ton, called Quaquanantuck (shortened locally to Quogue). This was 
topographically valuable, extremely rich in salt meadows and noted 
for the whales cast on its shores. This property, at first unclaimed by 
any town, had passed through a number of private hands. 

Lion Gardiner, one of Southampton's earliest settlers, originally 
bought it from Wyandanch on June 10th, 1658 "for a considerable sum 
of money" (S-ampton T. R., I, 170). A few months later he transferred 
it to John Cooper, who promised to keep up the payments to the 
Indians and give them all the whales (Ibid., 171). 

The second Quogue purchaser was John Ogden, another prominent 
Southamptoncr, and his deed for this land (dated May, 1659) bore the 
marks of both Wyandanch and Wiacombe and included a description 
as to its limits and conditions under which certain other men were 
granted the privilege of cutting hay on a meadow three miles north of 
Quogue (Ibid., 162). Ogden then sold this land to John Scott (Ibid., 



406 f APPENDICES 

175) who in turn sold it to the town of Southampton for 70, but 
reserving for himself five acres of salt hay for his horses (S-ampton 
T. R., II, 38), land he later gave to Henry Pierson (Ibid., 39). 

On March 14th, 1663, the town of Southampton decided by majority 
vote, that the valuable Quogue salt meadows should never be farmed 
nor settled (S-ampton T. R., II, 39) and that monies should be levied 
on the inhabitants for upkeep (Ibid., 39-40). 

But in April, 1662, a Captain Thomas Topping bought from the 
Shinnetock Indians (from the Sunk Squa Weany and her son Jacka- 
napes) a large tract of land west of Canoe Place of which Quogue was 
part (S-ampton T. R., I, 167-8). Four years later, 1666, the chiefs of 
the Shinnecock tribe signed a giant protest that Sunk Squa \j/eany and 
those other Shinnecocks had had no right to sell all that property to 
Topping, that they contested the sale and assigned the land to "our 
ancient and loving friends of Southampton" (17th Sept., 1666, S-ampton 
T. R., I, 169; Hr-haven T. R. (1880 ed.), 16, 17). 

This was one of the many land suits confronting Governor Nicolls. 
It involved not only private ownership but land claimed by two sepa- 
rate sets of Indians. He ordered all the owners into Court bringing 
their writings and papers; and after much evidence, decided in favor 
of Southampton keeping the property, arid compensating Captain Top- 
ping (S-ampton T. R., I 173-4). John had already left Long Island when 
the verdict was given. But his deed to the property was duly delivered 
in court (Ibid., 172-3); John Ogden testifying tor him that he was 
present when John's deed of sale to the town was signed and sealed 
(Ibid., 174), with Captain Youngs corroborating this statement (Early 
Col. Docs, of L. I., p. 601). Other witnesses testified that John indeed 
had retained five acres for winter hay and that although this had not 
been so specified in his original bill of sale, it had always been recog- 
nized, and that Southampton, at the time, made no exception what- 
ever to this arrangement (S-ampton, orig. T. R. Liber., 2, 38, 52). 

Now Nicolls' secretary Mathias, newly arrived from England, and 
others who started the story of John's fraudulent deals, may well have 
been puzzled by this kind of dispute and by the stream of land suits 
flooding the New York courts. But the records do not support their 
charges. True, none of the Long Island landlords had an English title 
to their property. Native title and court registration were everywhere 
recognized as legal basis for possession. And John was a stickler for 
registration. One of his biggest law suits (when he was acting as at- 
torney for the Overseers of the Poor) against Andrew Messenger of 
Jamaica, was won by proving that his adversary's bill of sale was in- 
valid because not recorded before witnesses (Early Col. Docs. L. L, 
pp. 563-64). Pepys' witnesses concerning John's land were not only 
confused by the complicated changes in Long Island's land tenure 
following the British victory of 1664, but these men evidently did not 
know that Scott, as Southampton's attorney (with Stanborough who 



APPENDICES f 407 

died in 1664) handled boundary disputes between that town and 
Easthampton and Southold which frequently took him into court con- 
cerning land not his (S-ampton T. R., II, 3, 233). 

The confusing land situation was also affected by the changing atti- 
tude of the Indians themselves about this period. The second genera- 
tion dealing with the white man was far less gullible than the first as 
to real estate values, even disputing previous transactions wherein they 
were not consulted and in which they felt cheated. Tribes were switch- 
ing alliances. The Montauks were no longer supreme nor recognized 
as having sole right to sell. 

The great Wyandanch died in 1659, and his only son, Wiacombe, 
succumbed to smallpox shortly after, while still a minor. The heiress, 
Quashawam, the Sunk Squa, slowly lost her grip over her people and 
over Long Island. First she appealed to the neighboring Shinnecocks 
to "force Montauks to acknowledge her supremacy on Long Island" 
(S-ampton T. R., II, 36-37; 49 in orig. Records). Then, being threat- 
ened and attacked by the Narragansetts, she and her tribe fled to 
Easthampton and put themselves under the protection of the white 
men there, to whom, in gratitude, she made over Montauk Village 
and some land previously granted to John Scott (Deeds and Patents. 
Docs. Relating to Conveyance of Land, Rare Bk. Dept., L. of Congress, 
pp. 3-7). 

This was yet another instance of the Indian habit of selling (or giv- 
ing) twice; and the Sunk Squa's latest action was but one step in that 
boundary feud which Southampton and Easthampton kept up for 
centuries. The New York courts recognized (in 1668) that a former 
agreement between Easthampton and John Scott did exist, but de- 
clared this now null and void, decreeing that only the 1668 grant of 
Montauk to Easthampton should continue in force (Early Col. Docs, of 
L. /., p. 606); a decision which may possibly have been influenced by 
Southampton's obstinate refusal to accept the Duke's Laws. 

Many of the histories of Long Island towns were compiled about the 
time the "legend" of Scott's life was first revealed in the publication 
of a member of the Massachusetts Historical Society;* hence their bias 
against John, although other editors of that great association have 
since publicly queried whether John Scott might not be a much 
maligned man (Wyllys Papers, Conn. Hist. Soc. Coll., XXI, 146). 

At this juncture John is seen to be not so much an adventurer in 
land, as a representative of his age, whose underlying spirit was 
monopoly. John (as Abbott so pertinently points out) never succeeded 
in gaining entry to that inner circle which, in the language of the day, 
"managed;" and steadily, for the sake of his convictions, botched what 
chances he might have had. He was a lone operator among corpora- 

* G. D. Scull who privately printed the life of Dorothea-Scott-Gotherson- 
Hogben (cited erroneously in the English Dictionary of National Biography 
as by G. D. Scott). 



408 f APPENDICES 

tions and associations securely backed by royal patents which effectively 
barred single competitors in any chosen field, whether foreign trade or 
American real estate. There was a reason for this, as one saw both at 
Setauket and Southampton, for had free competition been unlimited, 
with private individuals buying up what they wanted, expanding town- 
ships would have been hemmed in, their prosperity jeopardized. 
Nevertheless outsiders bitterly resented these restrictions. 

John Winthrop and others, like the Atherton Associates, belonged 
to the chosen few who could do no wrong. Arbitrary action like theirs 
was not uncommon when it came to incorporated possessions. As the 
royal commissioners reported to Charles II concerning New England 
towns: "Not one is regularly built within its just limits" (AT. Y. Col. 
Docs., Ill, 112), and Winthrop Jr.'s first attempts to acquire land in 
Long Island had been so irregular that they were discountenanced by 
the New England Commissioners (Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., IV, Vol. 7, 
57n). See also Hazard's Hist. Col. State Papers, I, 94, for Winthrop's 
"uncomely behaviour" concerning this land. Later he was much more 
successful. 



APPENDIX M 

An example of the carefully assembled facts proving John Scott's 
accuracy is the following comment on Powell's expedition: 

In 1656, Henry Powell was called upon to give evidence concerning 
the expedition to Barbados before the commissioners of bankruptcy on 
behalf of the heirs and representatives of his old patron, Sir W. Cour- 
ten. Powel states: "that he landed about forty people on Barbadoes 
from the William and John of London about Feb. 20th, 1626, being in 
the employ of William Courten and Company ... at the end of a 
fortnight's time this deponent sailed to the maine upon the coast of 
Guiana and furnished himself with roots, seeds, plants, fowles etc. and 
other materialls together with thirty two Indians, which he carried to 
the said island for the planting thereof (State Papers, Col. Ser., XIV, 
no. 39). 

Before proceeding further it will be observed that this statement 
agrees in all essential respects with Scott's Narrative except that there 
is no mention of Gromwegle's assistance. This however is precisely 
what there would not be. William Courten died in 1636, a ruined man, 
and his heirs were for a long series of years engaged in lawsuits in 
England and the United Provinces to compel the Dutch representatives 
of the old firm of Curten and Co., Pieter Boudaan Courten, to refund 
a large sum of money said to have been fraudulently appropriated by 
him in 1631. It is clear that the very last thing a witness on behalf of 
the plaintiffs would voluntarily admit would be this very fact that the 
Courten settlement in Barbados was indebted for help to a man at 
that time in the employ of the defendant. 



APPENDICES f 409 

In a petition of Henry Powell in 1660 to the governor of Barbados 
... he gives an account of his 1626 expedition ... he says the cost 
and charge of the voyage were borne by Sir Peter Courten; and his 
Narrative leaves little doubt as to the share of the Dutchman in the 
undertaking. Powell tells first of his landing some forty men in 
Barbados, and these (as he avers in a sworn deposition), "were for Sir 
William Courten, and Sir William paid them wages." His petition 
continues: 

"Having left the aforesaid servants upon this island I preceded in 
my voyage to the Maine, to the river Disacuba, and there left eight 
men and left them a Cargezon of trade for that place." 

The fact that "cargezon" is the technical Dutch word for goods sent 
out to a trading port for bartering with Indians, makes it wellnigh 
certain that these eight men (who would never have been abandoned 
alone on an unknown and inhospitable coast, among wild tribes) were 
dispatched by Peter Courten as a reinforcement to the Zeeland trading 
settlement, whose head was Groenewegen. When Powell's statement is 
combined with Scott's Narrative all becomes intelligible (Culled from 
George Edmundson's The Dutch in Western Guiana, pp. 657-660). 

The general accuracy of Scott's "description" can be tested by com- 
paring it with another manuscript narrative of the end of the seven- 
teenth century Sloane MS. 2441, Brit. Mus. entitled, An Account of 
His Majesty's Island of Barbadoes. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY AND ABBREVIATIONS 



FRENCH MANUSCRIPT SOURCES 

Aff. Etran. Affaires Etrangeres, archives diplomatiques. Cor- 

respondence politique. Angleterre, vols. 99, 102, 
103, 107, 108; Holland, vols. 90, 91, 92, 93. Quai 
d'Orsay, Paris. 

Cinq Cents Cinq Cents de Colbert. 204, f. 210. Bibliotheque 

Nationale, Paris. 

Fr. Mar. Docs. Archives de la Marine Francaise. B.C.D.G. Col- 

bert to Le Goux, Colbert to D'Alliez. Archives 
Nationales, Paris. 

Mel. de Col. Melanges de Colbert (volumes verts). Biblio- 

theque Nationale. 

Mmoires et Documents (vol. 12), Angleterre 
(1635-1700). Quai d'Orsay. 

MSS Fr. Manuscrits du fonds francais. Conqute de la 

Tortue, 9325. Archives Nationales. 

Nouvelles Acquisitions: 

Receuil Margry, Canons de la Marine, Canons 

et Fonderies, 9479, 9390. Mfrnoires sur les Or- 

donnances, 8025-30. Receuil Hocquet d'Hame'- 

court: Papiers de la Marine 3530. Archives 

Nationales. 

Papiers de 1'Inspecteur de Police charge* de 
L'Observer des etrangers. 10. 235-57. 

Individual Docs: 4 dossiers, 1674, 10, 336: 
5 dossiers, 1675. Bibliotheque Nationale. 

411 



412 f BIBLIOGRAPHY AND ABBREVIATIONS 

Receuil Cange XXII (1673-78), Ordonnances, 
etc. Bibliotheque Nationale. 

Repertoire des Minutes regois par M. Noel Du- 
parc, conseilleur du Roi, Notaire au Chasleton 
de Paris. CXIXI 2. (1670-80). Archives Na- 
tionales. 

Titres, Actes, Documents. A. Ib, IV (181), 
Agents. Archives Nationales. 

FRENCH PRIMARY PRINTED SOURCES 

Colbert, son systeme et les entreprises mdus- 
trielle de 1'Etat (1661-80). P, Boissonade, Tou- 
louse, 1902. 

du Tertre. Hist. Histoire Generate des Antilles habitues par les 

Frangais (4 vols.), par. R.P. du Tertre Paris 
MDCLXVII. 

Fr. Artil. Mem. Memorial de FArtillerie Frangaise (tome XIV): 

(1) Historiques, fabrications d f Armament en 
France. 

(2) Determination du Potential des explosifs. 

Histoire de L'Ancienne Infantrie Franchise 
Ouvrage de G^ndral Susane. Paris. Corre'ard. 
1853. (Tome 8.) (In Ministry of War, Chateau 
de Vincennes.) 

La Marine de Guerre sous Louis XIV. Le Ma- 
trial. par Rne Memain. Paris 1937. 

Lettres, Instructions et M^moires de Colbert 
par Pierre Clement. (7 Tomes, 17 parts.) Paris. 
Imprimrie Impriale MDCCLV. 

Receuil des instructions donnes aux Ambas- 
sadeurs de France en Angleterre. J. J. Jusse- 
rand. Paris. E. de Boccard. 

Re*gistres de Correspondence. Ancien Regime. 
Ministere de la Guerre. Inventaire Sommaire 
des Archives Historiques. Archives Ancien Cor- 
respondence. Imprim6rie Nationale 1898. 



DUTCH MANUSCRIPT SOURCES 

Arch. St. Gen. Archives. Staten-General (States General) in the 

Hague. Algemeen Rijksarchief. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY AND ABBREVIATIONS 



413 



Arch. St. van Hoi. 



Arch. Raad. v. St. 



Arch. Milit. 



Arch. Hof v. Hoi. 



Archives Staten Van Holland (States of Hol- 
land): 

No. 301. Secret Resolutions. 
No. 2017. Letters from Sasburgh at Brussels. 
No. 2922. Letters from different towns. 

Archives Raad Van State (Counsel of State): 

No. 519. Out-letters (1672-73). 

No. 625. In-letters (1672-73). 

No. 1871. Secret Resolutions (1672-73). 

No. 1903. Contracts about recruiting foreign 

regiments, 1670-73. 
No. 2566. Register. 

Archives Hoge Militaire Krijgsraad (High Mili- 
tary Court): 

No. 353. Sentences 1672-73. 
No. 352. (Copy book of sentences 1672 (Nov. 

16) to 1673 (July 13). 

No. 354. Resolutions (fragments only 1673). 
These contain all the sentences against high 
officers. Scott's name is not among them I 

Archives Hoge Raad (High Court of Holland 
and Zeeland). Sentences. Nothing about Scott. 

Archives Hof Van Holland (Court of Holland): 

No. 788. Sentences. 

No. 792. Sentences. 

No. 1170. Counsel. 

No. 1354. Protocol (proces verbals). 

No. 3026. Petitions for mandate. 

No. 4565. Petitions. 

No. 5291. Criminal Documents. 

Archives Gecommitteerde Raden Van Holland 

(Deputy States): 

No. 3020-3021. Resolutions and sentences. 

No. 3287. Survey of Army, Secret Resolutions. 

Judicial Archives in the Hague: 

No. 2. Resolutions, 1671-73. 

No. 59-60. Criminal Examination Books (1669- 

73). 

No. 71. Criminal Cause list (1669-73). 
No. 103-104. Sentences. 
No. 144-145. Civil Case list (1671, October) 

(1672). 
No. 332. Appointments on Petitions (1671-73). 



414 f BIBLIOGRAPHY AND ABBREVIATIONS 



Not. Arch. Hague, 
Mun. 



Notarial Archives in Hague Municipal Archives: 
No. 522. Protocol of Notary Alexander Ennis. 
No. 523. 

No. 611. Protocol Willam Guldcmont. 
No. 611.f 170; ff 204-204v. 

No. 877. 732 Protocol Samuel Favon, f. 306. 

No. 392. Protocol Pister van Swieten, ff 323-326, 
Testimony of Deborah van Egmont (servant 
at the Hague). June 23, 1672. She gave testi- 
mony in 1680, too, extending her remarks 
after having talked with Gunman, Pepys' 
agent. 

Judicial Archives of Voorburg: No. A XIII, 22. 

Reformed Marriage Registers of the Hague and 
Rijswijk. 

Archives First West India Company. 



DUTCH PRIMARY PRINTED SOURCES 

Besch. Vreemde Arch. Bescheiden uit Vreemde archieven omtrent de 
groote Nederlandsche zeeoorlogen. H. T. Co- 
lenbrander, The Hague, 1919. (Taken from 
State Papers, Foreign, Holland 189. 1652-76.) 

Het. St. Leg. Het Staatscher Leger (Military Yearbook 1568- 

1795) collected by F. J. G. Ten Raa, Lt. Gen. of 
Infantry; prepared by F. de Bas, published by 
Koninklijke Militaire Academic, Breda: vol. 5. 

Me*m. de Jan de Witt. Me"moires du Grand Pensionaire, traduit de 
1'originale en frangais par M. de Ratisbonne, 
chez Erasmus Kinkius MDCCIX. 

Hoi. R. H. Arch. Holland. Royal House Archives, pub. N. Jap- 

ikse, Correspondentie van Willem III en van 
Willem Bentinck. 

R. H. Arch. Royal House Archives: No. 2650 II M. Nyjhoff, 

s-Gravenhage, 1935. 

Yearbook of Historical SocietyDie Haghe. 

Eine Wandeling Door s-Gravenhage, 1679 by 
Johanna Berk, 1901. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY AND ABBREVIATIONS f 415 



Add. MSS. 



C.E.B. 



Col. Ch. Pro. 



Conn. Arch. 



Mit. Ch. Pro. 

Morn. MS., I, II 
Rawl. MSS. 



SI. MS. 
S.P. 



SP Car. I, II, Dom. 



ENGLISH MANUSCRIPT SOURCES 



Additional Manuscripts in British Museum. 
Admiralty Papers, 15253-5323 Reports, Couit 
Martials (Public Record Office). 

(Formerly Colonial Entry Books) Nevis Acts 1-2 
(1664-1735). 

Collins Chancery Proceedings. 221. Scott v. 
Wooley. Public Record Office. 

Connecticut Archives including Towns and 
Lands; Foreign Correspondence, and MSS. [vol. 
I of Colonial Records] (1636-1649) in Connecti- 
cut State Library, Hartford, Connecticut. 

Egerton MS. 2395. 

Harleian MS. 1531, 1566, Scott pedigree, British 
Museum. 

Mitforcl Chancery Proceedings, C8,376, No. 69 
(Joync v. Pepys); C8,638, No. 61, Pepys v. Joyne, 
Public Record Office. 

Mornamont Papers (Pepysian MS. 2881), Mag- 
dalene College, Cambridge. 

Rawlinson Manuscripts, Bodleian Library, Ox- 
ford. 

Records. Journal of Common Council London 
Guidhall, Remembrancer, Common Hall Book. 

Shaftesbury Papers, 4, 35. GD 24. Public Record 
Office. 

Sloane Manuscript. 3662. British Museum. 

State Papers. SP Foreign, Holland (SP 84); 
Flanders (SP 77); France (SP 78); Newsletters: 
SP 101/4, Flanders; 101/54-57, Holland; 101/19, 
Paris; 105/220-232, Sir Joseph Williamson's Col- 
lection. Public Record Office. 

State Papers Charles I, II domestic. Public Rec- 
ord Office. 



416 f BIBLIOGRAPHY AND ABBREVIATIONS 



ENGLISH PRIMARY PRINTED SOURCES 

Acts of the Assembly. Island of Nevis 1664-1739. 
London. Printed by orders of the Lords Com- 
missioners of Trade and Plantations by John 
Baskett. MDCCXL. 

Acts of the Privy Council of England, Colonial 
series. Ed. Willam L. Grant and James Munro. 
London, 1908-12. 

Absalom and Achitophel by John Dryden 1631- 
1700. A poem. London, 1681. 

Admiralty Journal by Samuel Pepys, at Green- 
wich Observatory. 

Affairs and Men in Times of Peter Stuyvesant. 
Extract of City Records. J. Paulding, New York, 
1843. 

Ann. of Newtown. Annals of Newtown by James Riker. Long Is- 
land, 1825. 

Arch. Cant. Archaeologia Cantiana. Transactions of the 

Kent Archaeological Society. 5 Vols. Printed 
for the Society, London 1889. 

An appeal from the Country to the City, printed 
by Benjamin Harris. London, 1680. 

Bib. Cant. Bibliotheca Cantiana. John Russell Smith, Lon- 

don, 1837. 

Bishop Burnet's History of his own time 1643- 
1715. 6 Vols. Hamilton, Balfour & Neill, Edin- 
burgh, 1753. 

Book of Records of Public Transactions of In- 
habitants of Salem Village. Historical Collec- 
tions of Danvers Historical Society. 

A Brief Historical Relation of State Affairs from 
Sept. 1678-April 1714 by Narcissus Luttrell. 6 
Vols. Oxford University Press, MDCCCLVII. 

Brief History of the Times of Observator (Sir 
Roger L'Estrange). Charles Brome, London, 
1687. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY AND ABBREVIATIONS f 417 



Brit. Bl. Bk. 

Br-haven T. R. 
Cal. Hist. MSS. 

Gal. NY. Col. MSS. 
Cal. Tr. Books 

CSP Col. Am. and 
W.I. 



Brief Lives and other Selected Writings by John 
Aubrey, Ed. Anthony Powel, London, 1949. 

Brief Description of New York, 1656-1696 by 
Daniel Demon. Ed. Victor Hugo Paltsits, New 
York, 1937. 

Britisli Guiana Boundary Arbitration with the 
United States of Venezuela. The Case on behalf 
of the Brit. Gov. Printed Foreign Office, 1898. 
8 vols., 3 appendices. 

Brookhaven Town Records, Patchogue ed., 
1830; also Weeks ed. 1924. 

Calendar of Historical Manuscripts in office of 
the Secretary of State, Albany. I, Dutch; II, 
English. O'Callaghan. 1867. 

Calendar of New York Colonial manuscripts, 
endorsed Land Papers, 1643-1803. Albany, 1864. 

Calendar of Treasury Books; Ed. William Shaw, 
London, 1904-52. 

Calendar of State Papers, colonial series, 
America and West Indies. H.M. Printing Press, 
London, 18. 



CSP Dom. Car. I, II Calendar of State Papers, Domestic, Charles I, 
II. 

CSP Ven. Calendar of State Papers, Venetian. 

Ch. Pol. Ann. The Political Annals of the United Colonies. 

George Chalmers. London. Printed by author 
1780. 

Calendar of Clarendon State Papers. New York 
Historical Society Collections, Vol. II, 1869. 

Clarendon's History of the Grand Rebellion, 6 
Vols. Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1827. 

Cobbett's Parliamentary History of England. 6 
Vols. R. Bagshaw, London, 1808. 

Collections of the Essex Institute by George F. 
Cheever. Published by Henry Whipple & Son, 
1859. 



418 f BIBLIOGRAPHY AND ABBREVIATIONS 



Col. Pap. 



Colonial Records. General Entries, 1664-65, 
transcribed from MSS. in New York State Li- 
brary. New York University Press, 1899. 

Colonial Office Papers. H.M. Printing Office, 
London. 



Conn. Hist. Soc. Coll. Collections of the Historical Society of Connect- 
icut. Hartford, 1932. 

A Complete History of Connecticut by Ben- 
jamin Trumbull, D.D., Hudson and Goodwin, 
Hartford, 1797. 



Conn. Pub. Rec. 



DNB 



Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut, 
Ed. James H. Trumbull and Charles J. Hoadly, 
Hartford, 1850-90. 

Deeds and Patents. Documents relating to Con- 
veyance of Land on Long Island. Bell and 
Gould, New York, 1850. 

The Development of the Leeward Islands, 
1660-1668, under the Restoration. C. S. S. Hig- 
ham. Cambridge University Press, 1921. 

Diaries of Samuel Sewall of Boston, Mass. Judge, 
1673. Massachusetts Historical Society Collec- 
tions, Series 5, Vols. 5, 6, 7. 

Diary of J. Evelyn. Ed. A. Dobson. London, 

1908. 

The Diary of Samuel Pepys, M.A., F.R.S. 10 
Vols. Ed. Henry B. Wheatley, F.S.A. G. Bell & 
Sons, London, 1928. 

Diary of the Times of Charles II. 2 Vols. by the 
Hon. Henry Sidney, Earl of Romney. Henry 
Colburn, London, 1843. 

Discourse. Defence of His Majesty's Action by 
Sir George Downing. London. J. M. 1664. 

Divers Voyages touching the Discovery of 
America. Collected and published by Richard 
Hakluyt in the year 1582. Ed. by John Winter 
Jones. Printed for the Hakluyt Society, MDCCL. 
London. 

Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford Uni- 
versity Press, since 1917. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY AND ABBREVIATIONS f 419 



Doc. Hist. N.Y. 



EHR 

Early Col. Docs. L.I. 

E-ampton T. R. 



Hemp. T. R. 



Hist. N.E. 



The Documentary History of the State of New 
York. Ed. E. B. O'Callaghan M.D., Albany. 
Weed Parsons Company, 1849. 

Domesday Book. Survey of South Britain by 
Commissioners of William the Conqueror, 1086; 
faithfully translated by Samuel Henshall and 
John Wilkinson. Bye and Law, London, 1799. 

English Historical Review, London. 

Documents Relative to the History of Early 
Colonial Settlement, Principally on Long Is- 
land. Ed. by E. B. O'Callaghan. Albany, 1853. 

Easthampton Town Records, J. H. Hunt, 5 
Vols. Sag Harbor, 1905. 

Examen by Roger North 1653-1734. F. Gyles, 
London, 1740. 

The First Whig by Sir George Sitwell. 1668-69. 
London (published privately). 

Further Correspondence of Samuel Pepys 1662- 
1679. Ed. by J. R. Tanner. London, 1926. 

General Entries VI. 1664-65, State Library Bul- 
letin. History 2. (Documents relating chiefly to 
surrender of New Amsterdam to the English.) 
Albany, 1899. 

Records of North and South Hempstead. 3 
Vols. Jamaica, New York, 1896. 

History of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay by 
Mr. Hutchinson, Lt. Gov. of Mass. Province. 
Thomas & John Fleet, Boston, MDCCLXIV. 

A History of the Weald of Kent by Robert 
Furley, F.S.A. John Russell Smith, London, 
1871. 

The Victoria History of County of Kent, Con- 
stable, London, 1908. 

Historical collections of state papers. Ebenezer 
Hazard. T. Dobson, Philadelphia, MDCCXCIV. 

History of New England by John Winthrop Sr., 
Journal, 2 Vols. Phelps and Farnham, Boston, 
1825. 



420 f BIBLIOGRAPHY AND ABBREVIATIONS 

Hist, of PI. PL History of Plymouth Plantation, 1620-1647 by 

Willam Bradford. Pub. Mass. Hist. Soc., Hough- 
ton Mifflin, Boston, 1912. 

H.M.C. Historical Manuscripts Commission. (Royal 

Commission for Historical Manuscripts Re- 
ports.) 

Hunt. T. R. Huntington Town Records, 6 vols. with notes 

by Charles R. Street. Long Islander Press, New 
York, 1887. 

Hutch. Pap. Hutchinson Papers, 2 Vols. Prince Society, Al- 

bany, 1865. 

The Iconography of Manhattan Island 1498- 
1909 by Isaac Newton Stokes. Compiled from 
original sources. 6 Vols. R. N. Dodd, New York, 
1915-28. 

Index of Parish Registers printed in Ashford 
Kent, 1570. Copy in B. M. add. MSS. 33914. 

Jamaica T. R. Jamaica Town Records, ed. Josephine C. Frost. 

New York, 1764. 

Jour. H. of C. Journals of the House of Commons. 

(East) Kent Records. Calendar of some unpub- 
lished deeds and Court Rolls in the Library of 
Lambeth Palace. Ed. by Irene Josephine Church- 
ill. London. Printed for the Records Branch 
(Kent Archaeological Society), 1922. 

Kent Keepers of Peace 1316-1317 printed for 
Records Branch, Kent Archaeological Society. 

Kent. Comm. Commentaries on American Law, James Kent. 

Boston, 1896. 

Letters from New England by John Dunton 
1685. Prince Society, Albany, 1867. 

Letters Addressed from London to Sir Joseph 
Williamson. 1673-1677. Ed. by W. D. Christie, 
C. B. 2 Vols. Camden Society, MDCCCLXXIV. 

Life and Letters of John Winthrop by Robert 
C. Winthrop. Ticknor & Fields, Boston, 1867. 

The Life, Journals and Correspondence of Sam- 
uel Pcpys deciphered by Rev. John Smith. 
Richard Bentley, London, 1841. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY AND ABBREVIATIONS f 421 

Letters and the Second Diary of Samuel Pepys. 
R. G. Howarth, 1932. 

LI. Lives. Memoires of the Lives, Actions . . . and 

Deaths of those . . . that suffered for the 
Protestant Religion and . . . Allegiance to their 
Sovereign (1637-60) by David Lloyd, AM. Lon- 
don, 1668. 

The Love Letters of Dorothy Osborne to Sir 
William Temple. Ed. from original MSS. by 
Gollancz. London, 1903. 

Magnalia Chijjfi Americana (1620-98) by Cotton 
Mather, D.r.V^.S. Pastor of the North Church 
of Boston. London, 1702. 

Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll. Collections of the Massachusetts Historical So- 
ciety. 

Parl. Deb. Debates in the House of Commons, Hon. An- 

chitell Grey. London, MDCCLXIII. 

Mass. Rec. Records of the Governor and Company of the 

Massachusetts Bay in New England, ed. Na- 
thaniel B. Shurtleff. Boston, 1853. 

Memoirs of Sir William Temple. 2 Vols. Lon- 
don, T. Courtney, 1836. 

Mercurious Aulicus, Court Mercury (Cavalier 
slanted); Mercurious Britannicus (Parliamen- 
tarian side). English Civil War Newsletters in 
Burney Collection in British Museum. 

Minutes of the Orphan Masters Court of New 
Amsterdam, 1655-63. 

Minutes of the Executive Boards of the Burgo- 
masters of New Amsterdam translated by Ber- 
thold Fernow. Frances P. Harper, New York, 
1907. 

Minutes of the Executive Council of the Prov- 
ince of New York, 2 Vols. Ed. by Victor Hugo 
Paltsits. Albany, 1910. 

Miscellaneous Works by George Villiers, 2nd 
Duke of Buckingham. London, Sam Briscoe, 
1704. 



422 f BIBLIOGRAPHY AND ABBREVIATIONS 



Narr. of NN 1609-64 



N. Neth. Reg. 



N.Y. Col. Docs. 



N.Y. Gen. and Bio. 
Rec. 

N.Y. Hist. Soc. ColL 



Oy. Bay T. R. 



Narratives of Early New Netherland. Edited by 
J. Franklin Jameson, Ph.D. Charles Scribner 
Sons, New York, 1909. 

New England's Prospect. A True Lively de- 
scription by William Wood. London, 1639. 

The Register of New Netherland 1626-1674. 
Ed. by E. B. O'Callaghan. Munsell, Albany, 
1865. 

Documents Relative to the Colonial History of 
the State of New York procured in 'Holland, 
England and France, by John R. Brodhead. 
Albany, 1853. 

New York Genealogical and Biographical Rec- 
ord. Issued quarterly by the Society. New York, 
1870. 

Collections of the New York Historical Society 
New York, 1870-1926, etc. 

News Letters of Civil War Period: Burney 
Collection, British Museum. 

The Norman Balliols in England by James 
Renat Scott. Balliol College Library, 1914. 

The Original Lists of Persons of Quality, Emi- 
grants, Political Rebels who went from Great 
Britain to the American Plantations (1600- 
1700). Ed. by John C. Hotten. Chatto & Windus, 
London, 1874. 

Oyster Bay Town Records, Ed. John Cox, Jr., 
Tobias A. Wright, New York, 1916. 

The Passages in Parliament (Burney Collection 
B.M.). Nathaniel Butler. 1642. 

The Paston Letters. Lord John Paston, Knt. 2 
Vols. 1422-1509 A.D. Ed. James Gairdner. Lon- 
don, 1875. 

Perambulation of Kent, description, hysteric 
and customs. Collected and written 1570 by Wil- 
liam Lambard of Lincolnes Inne. London for 
Ralphe Nevvberie, 1576. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY AND ABBREVIATIONS f 423 



Plaine Dealing or Newes from New England 
by Thomas Lechford (1590-1664). J. K. Wiggin, 
1867. 

A Plaine Description of the Bermudas now 
called the Soramer Islands by Silvester Jour- 
doin. Welby, London, 1613. 

Proceedings of the American Antiquarian So- 
ciety. Vols. VIII, X, XII, XVI. 

Proceedings and Debates of the British Parlia- 
ments respecting North America. Ed. by Leo 
Stock. Carne$ Institution of Washington, 
1924. '.'^' 

Records of New Amsterdam 1653-74 (7 Vols.). 
Minutes of the Court of Burgomasters and 
Schepens. Administrative Minutes 1657-61. Ed. 
by B. Fernow. New York, 1897. 

Records of the Particular Court of Connecticut. 
Connecticut Historical Society Collection. 

Records of the Colony or Jurisdiction of New 
Haven from May 1653 to the Union. Case and 
Lockwood, Hartford, 1853. 

Records of Plymouth Colony, Court Orders and 
original Minutes of proceedings of the Com- 
missioners of the United Colonies. 1633. Ed. 
Nathaniel Shurtleff, M.D. W. White, Boston, 
1855. 

Rec. of Quart. Courts Records of the Quarterly Courts Essex County, 
Massachusetts. 

Registers of Probate for the County of Suffolk, 
Mass, by James T. Hassom A.M. 1639-1749. 

Reports of American Historical Association. 
Vol. II. 

Rh. I. Records Rhode Island Records. Records of the Colony 

of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. 
2 Vols. John H. Hunt, Sag Harbor, 1887. 

Scott Mem. Memorials of the family of Scott of Scot's Hall, 

Kent, by James Renat Scott, F.S.A. London, 
1887. 



Pro. A.A.S. 

Pro. Debates of Parl. 

Rec. New Amst. 

Rec. of Part. Court 
Rec. of N. Hav. 

Rec. PI. Col. 



424 f BIBLIOGRAPHY AND ABBREVIATIONS 



S-ampton T. R, 
Sold T. R. 
St. Tr. 



U.S. Bound. Comm. 



Vill. Cant 



Records of the Town of Southampton. Sag 
Harbor, 1874. 

Southold Town Records, Ed. J. Wickham Case. 
New York, 1882-84. 

State Trials. Cobbett's Complete Collection. 
Hansard, London, 1810. 

Thomason Tracts. British Museum. 

Town Records of Salem. Essex Institute His- 
torical Collections. 

The Twysden Lieutenancy Papers, 1583-1668 
by Sir Roger T. Twysden bart, 1597-1672, ed. 
by Glady Scott Thomson. Ashforcl. Printed for 
the Records Branch of Kent Archaeological 
Society. 

United States Commission on Boundary be- 
tween Venezuela and British Guiana. 9 Vols. 
Govt. Print. Office, Washington, 1897. 

Villare Cantianum or Kent Surveyed. Being an 
exact Description of all the Parishes and respec- 
tive Manors . . . the original Possessors of them, 
Drawn out of Charters, Escheats Rolls, Fines, 
and other public Evidence, but especially out 
of Gentlemen's Private Deeds and Muniments. 
By Thomas Philipott, Esq. Clare College, Cam- 
bridge, 1659. 

Visitation of the County of Kent by Sir Edward 
Bysshe, 1615-1679 begins MDCLXIII finished 
MDCLXVIII. Ed. by Sir George J. Armytage. 
Mitchell Hughes and Clarke, London, 1906. 

Winthrop's Journal. History of New England, 
1630-1649 (from original MSS.). Phelps & Farn- 
ham, Boston, 1825. 

Winthrop Papers, 5 Vols. Massachusetts His- 
torical Society, 1947. 

Wonder Working Providence by Captain Ed- 
ward Johnson. Nathaniel Brooks, London, 1654. 

The Works of Sir William Temple, bart. 2 Vols. 
T. Woodward, London, 1750. 



SELECTED SECONDARY SOURCES 

PART I 

The King's Peace 1637-1641. C. V. Wedgewood. Macmillan Co., New 
York, 1955. 

The English Past by Alfred L. Rowse. Macmillan Co., London, 1951. 
History of England by Thomas Babington Macaulay, Vol. III. Athe- 

neum Press, London, 1897. /* 

The Puritan Age and Rule 1629-85 "x "George E. Ellis. Houghton Mff- 

flin Co., Boston, 1888. 
The Land System of the New England Colonies by Melville Egleston. 

Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, 1886. 
History of the City of New York in the Seventeenth Century by Mrs. 

Schuyler van Rensselaer, 2 Vols, Macmillan Co., New York, 1909. 
A Compendious History of New England. J. G. Palfrey, 4 Vols. Bos 

ton, 1873. 

The Founding of New England by James Truslow Adams LL.D., Lit- 
tle, Brown 8c Co., Boston, 1927. 

Long Island Colonial Patents by Frederick van Wyck. A. A. Beau- 
champ, Boston, 1935. 

History of the State of New York by John Romeyn Brodhead. Harper 
Brothers, New York, 1872. 

Social Policy During the Puritan Revolution by Margaret James. 
G. Rutledge 8c Sons, London, 1930. 

Law Enforcement in Colonial New York (1664-1776) by Julius Goebel 
and T. Raymond Naughton. Publications of the Foundation for Re- 
search in Legal Studies 1944. Columbia University Law School, New 
York. 

Colonists in Bondage by Abbot Emerson Smith. University of N. Caro- 
lina Press, Chapel Hill, N.C., 1947. 

The Colonial Period of American History by C. M. Andrews, 3 Vols. 
Yale University Press, New Haven, Conn., 1934. 

Connecticut and British Government by Charles M. Andrews. Pub. by 
Committee on Historic Publications. 

Private Enterprise in New Amsterdam by Harold C. Syrett, William 
and Mary Quarterly, Oct. 1954. Pub. by Institute of Early American 
History. Williamsburg. 

Pioneers of Massachusetts by Charles H. Pope. C. H. Pope, Boston, 
1900. 

425 



426 f SELECTED SECONDARY SOURCES 

"Colonel" John Scott of Long Island, Wilbur Cortez Abbott. Yale 
Univ. Press, 1918. 

The Beginnings of New England by John Fiske. Riverside Press, Cam- 
bridge, 1898. 

Topographical Dictionary English Emigrants to New England by 
Charles E. Banks. 

Planters of the Commonwealth by Charles Edward Banks. Houghton 
Mifflin, Boston, 1930. 

Builders of the Bay Colony by Samuel Eliot Morison. Houghton Mif- 
flin, Boston, 1930. 

The Intellectual Life of New England. Samuel Eliot Morison. New 
York University Press, N.Y., 1956. 

A History of Barbados 1625-1685 by Vincent T. Harlow, MA. Ox- 
ford. Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1926. 

The Age of Piracy by Robert Carse. Rinehart, New York, 1957. 

And Local Histories Including 

A Sketch of the First Settlement of Long Island by Silas Woods. Alden 

Spooner, Brooklyn, N.Y., 1824. 
Salem in 17th Century by James Duncan Philips. Houghton Mifflin, 

Boston, 1933. 
Indian Tribes in New England. Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll. 3rd Series, Vol. 

IX, X. 

Annals of Salem by Joseph B. Felt. James Munroe 8c Co., Boston, 1845. 
History of Suffolk County, N.Y. W. W. Munsell & Co., New York, 1882. 
The History of Salem, 3 Vols., by Sidney Perley. Salem, Mass., 1924. 
Bibliography of the Algonquin Languages by James C. Pilling. Wash- 
ington, D.C. Press, 1891. 

Town Records of Salem. Essex Institute Historical Collections. 
The Indian Land Titles of Essex County, Mass, by Sidney Perley. 

Essex Book & Print Club, Salem, Mass., 1912. 
History of Southampton by Benjamin Franklyn Thompson. New York, 

1918. 

History of Southampton by George Howell. 

Early History of Hempstead by Charles B. Moore. New York, 1879. 
Colonial Families of Long Island by Herbert Furman Seversmith. 
History of New York by William Smith. New York Historical Society 

Collection. 

PART II 

History of the People of the Netherlands by Petrus Johannes Blok 
(5 Vols.) G. P. Putnam, New York, 1907. 



SELECTED SECONDARY SOURCES f 427 

The Splendid Century by W. H. Lewis. A. Wolff, New York, 1953. 

The Seventeenth Century by Jacques Boulenger. G. P. Putnam, New 

York, 1933. 
Rise of the Dutch Republic by John L. Motley. 3 Vols. Harper & 

Bros., New York, 1883. 
Quarterly Caribbeana. Miscellaneous Papers belonging to the History. 

Genealogy, Topography and Antiquities of the British West Indies. 

Ed. by Vere Langford Oliver. London, 1912. 
Cross Roads of the Buccaneers by Hendrik de Leeuw. J. B. Lippincott, 

London, 1937. 
The Old Colonial System by George Louis Beer. 2 Vols. Macmillan 

Co., New York, 1913. 
The Cavaliers and Roundheads of Barbadoes by Nicolas Darnell 

Davis. 1650-52. British Guiana. Argosy Press, 1887. 

P ART I I I 

England under the Stuarts by George Macaulay Trevelyan. Vol. 5. 

Mcthuen Company, London, 1904-24. 

Samuel Pepys by Arthur Bryant. 2 Vols. Collins, London, 1938. 
Man in the Making 1 

The Years of Peril L Samuel Pepys by Arthur Bryant. Collins, 

The Saviour of the Navy J London, 1935-49. 
King Charles II by Arthur Bryant. Longmans, Green fe Co., London, 

1931. 
A History of England principally in the 17th Century by Leopold von 

Ranke. 6 Vols. Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1875. 

The Life of Danby by Andrew Browning. 3 Vols. Jackson & Son, Glas- 
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Robert Ferguson the Plotter by James Ferguson. Edinburgh, 1887. 
The First Earl of Shaftesbury by Louise Fargo Brown. D. Appleton 8c 

Co., New York, 1933. 
A Life of Anthony Ashley Cooper, first earl of Shaftesbury 1621-1683 

by W. D. Christie. 2 Vols. Macmillan Co., New York, 1871. 
Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley Cooper by H. D. Traill. D. Appleton 8c 

Co., New York, 1886. 
George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham by Winifred, Lady Burgh- 

clere. J. Murray, London, 1903. 
Great Villiers by Hester W. Chapman. Seeker 8c Warburg, London, 

1949. 
The Dukes of Buckingham, playboys of the Stuart-World by Robert 

Tristram Coffin. Brentano, New York, 1931. 



428 f SELECTED SECONDARY SOURCES 

Europe in the Seventeenth Century by David Ogg. Macmillan Co., 
New York, 1938. 

The Secret History of Charles II by John Emerick Dalberg- Acton. Mac- 
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The Age of Baroque 1610-1660 by Carl J. Fricdrich. Harper & Bros., 
New York, 1952. 

England in the Reign of Charles II by David Ogg. Clarendon Press, 
Oxford, 1934. 

A Rake and His Times by John Harold Wilson. Farrar, Straus & 
Young, New York, 1954. 

The Seventeenth Century by G. N. Clark, M.A. Clarendon Rress, Ox- 
ford, 1929. 

The Popish Plot by John Pollock. Duckworth 8c Company, London, 
1903. 

Dorothea Scott otherwise Gotherson & Hogben by G. D. Scull. Privately 
printed. Oxford, 1883. 

English Colonial Administration under Lord Clarendon 1660-1667 by 
Percy L. Kaye, Ph.D. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1905. 

John Wildman, plotter and postmaster, a study of the English republi- 
can movement in the 17th Century. J. Cape, London, 1947. 

William of Orange and the English Opposition by K. H. D. Haley. 
Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1953. 

The Life of John Locke. H. R. Fox-Bourne. Harper 8c Bros., New York, 
1876. 



INDEX 



Abbott, Wilbur Cortez, American his- 
torian, xi, xiii, 179, 328n. 

d'Acosta, Jose, Spanish author, 52, 
174 

Adams, Richard, copyist, 207 

Akers, Willemus (Willy), Scott's re- 
cruiting officer, 198, 205-6-7-8-9, 
210, 213, 216-17, 219-220 

Alcock, Thomas, member of Ather- 
ton Land Co., 90, 193 

Alford, Hampshire, "where Scott 
fell," 6 

Allyn, John, Connecticut's Secretary 
of State, 121-2 

Andros, governor of New York, 
grants John Winthrop English 
title to Scott's Setauket lands, 158 

Anglesey, Arthur Annesley, Earl of, 
Treasurer British Navy, 203 

Appleby, London coffeehouse keeper, 
336, 342, 357 

Arawak Indians, 44, 51, 177, 387-8 

d'Arbey, Madame, Dutch agent, 254 

Arents, Abraham, Dutch money 
lender, 213 

Arlington, Earl of, (see Henry Ben- 
net) English Sec. of State, 72, 84, 
167; countersigns King's letter to 
Atherton Associates, 91; reports to 
King, 189; has Scott released, 192-3; 
Cabal member, 194; knew about 
Dover Treaty, 200; receives Scott, 
220-1; Scott's letters to him, 226-9, 
237-9, 245, 253, 336, 374; (lees, dies, 
377; Appen. I 

Armada, 19-20 

Artaban, classical pseudonym for 
John Scott, 288, 290 

Ashford (Cromwell Bay, Brookhaven, 



Setauket), 57, 76, 77, 95, 99, 101, 
124, 158; Appen. E 
Ashley, Lord (see Shaftesbury) 
Atherton, Major Humphrey, com- 
mander, N. E. militia (1648), 41; 
buys Narragansett Settlement, 88-99 
Atherton Land Company, 89-92, 107, 
193; Appen. L 

Baliol, John de, King of Scotland 
(1292-96), 18 

Bankes, Sir John, East India mer- 
chant, 229, 328 

Barbados, 159, 169, 171; records of, 
175; its commanders, 176, 181, 184, 
186, 189, 192, 379, 386-7; Appen. M 

Barillon, French Ambassador to Eng- 
land, 287, 323 

Barnes, Charles, sued for libel by 
John Scott, 101 

Barr, de la, French governor in West 
Indies, 188; disputes restoration of 
St. Kitts, 255n. 

Baxter, George, Stuyvesant's former 
secretary, 67; helps Scott write Nar- 
rative, 92 

Bellingham, Richard, Boston magis- 
trate, 41; governor of Massachu- 
setts, 130; protests Scott's arrest, 130 

Bennet, Sir Henry, see Arlington 

Benson (alias Harrington, alias Wil- 
son), Shaftesbury's agent, 302, 339- 
40, 355 

Berg-op-Zoom, 198, 206-08, 210 

Berkeley, John, Lord of St ration, 
urges taking New Netherland, 140; 
receives patent of New Jersey, 156; 
loses royal favor, 157 



429 



430 f INDEX 



Berkshire, Earl of, former Cavalier, 
268; Scott's visit, 299; confesses to 
Scott, 300-01, 308, 317 

Berry, Captain, commander at St. 
Kitts, 188; Appen. G 

Besch, Abraham, Swedish ordnance 
director at Nevers, 261, 266 

Beuningen, van, Dutch Ambassador 
to England, 220 

Beverninghn, van, Dutch Ambassa- 
dor to England, 220 

Blood, Colonel, adventurer, thief, 
government agent, 295, 373 

Bowles, Sir John, presents Scott at 
Versailles court, 265 

Brabourne, 18, 19, 20, 23, 101; Appen. 
D 

Bradford, Captain William, New 
Haven commissioner, defends Scott, 
132 

Bradford, William, N.E. historian, 
27; suggests reason for Scott's aver- 
sion to Dutch, 93 

Bradstreet, Simon, Boston magistrate, 
41; member Atherton Land Co., 
67 

Brakcl, van, Dutch commander, 224 

Britlge(s), Sir Tobias, commander 
Barbados forces, 181; entrusts Scott 
with mission, 187-8; petitions King 
for back pay, 190n, Appen. G, H 

Biisbane, British naval attache* (later 
ambassador) in Paris, 302; replies 
to Pepys, 320-1-2, 327 

Buckingham, Second Duke of (George 
Villiers), Cabal member, 194; ig- 
norant of secret Treaty of Dover, 
200-3; returns from Fleet, 224-5; in 
Tower, 272; character, 284; cen- 
sured and fined, 285; buys City 
mansion, 286; seeks campaign 
funds, 287-8; sends Scott to Louis 
XIV, 297; visits Paris with Scott, 
330; arrest- warrant issued for, 331; 
stages Pope-Burning, 332; outma- 
neuvered by Shaftesbury, 344; goes 
to France with Scott, 359; speaks 
in House against Popery, 365-6; 
urges direct action, 366-7; attends 
coronation of James II, 377-8 

Bulstrode, William, 229 

Burr, George L., American historian, 
383-6-8, 390n., Appen. M 



Butler, George, coachman, 367-8, 370 
Butterfield, celebrated mathematical- 
instrument maker, 259; works for 
Scott, 264 

Byam, Sir William, governor of An- 
tigua, 183; reference to, 384, 387 

Cabot, John, b. Venetian, British 
citizen, together with sons plants 
English flag in New World on Cape 
Breton Island (1497), 53 

Carr, Robert, royal commissioner 
nominated to take possession of 
N.N., 141; attacks and* plunders, 
144 

Carr, William, British agent, 229, 
328 

Cartcret, Sir George, urges taking 
N.N., 140; receives N.J. from D. 
of Y., 156; loses royal favor, 157 

Carteret, Thomas, son of English Sec. 
of Navy, 157 

Cartwright, Sir George, royal com- 
missioner nominated to take pos- 
session of N.N, 141; attacks and 
plunders, 144 

Cavendish, Sir Thomas, explorer, 177 

Charles I (Stuart), King of England, 
3-11, refs. to, 70, 73, 83, 154 

Charles II, eldest son of above, re- 
stored to throne, 69, 71, 77; grants 
liberal colonial charters, 79, 91; 
plans N. N. invasion, 93; cedes 
territory to D. of Y., 140-1; foresees 
Dutch retaliation, 145; signs se- 
cret Treaty of Dover, 199; recalls 
subjects serving abroad, 219; 
changes sides in Third Dutch 
War, 240; belittles Popish Plot, 
278-300; banishes brother James, 
303; dismisses ministers, 305; pre- 
sents Louis XIV with yachts, 319; 
banishes D. of York and Mon- 
mouth, 331; dismisses Shaftesbury, 
344; taunts Pepys, 358; lacks sup- 
plies, 362; sees Lords defeat Ex- 
clusion Bill, 365; dismisses fifth 
Parliament, 366; sends Shaftesbury 
to Tower, 366 

Chiffinch, Thomas, Charles II's page, 
71; John Scott's patron, 72, 83; 
member of Atherton Land Co., 
90-1 



INDEX f 431 



Chiffinch, William, notorious brother 

of Thomas, 71-2 

Clarendon, Edward Hyde, Earl of, 
Lord Chancellor of England, cre- 
ates overlapping boundaries, 87, 
88, 91; favors John Scott, 107; buys 
L.I. patent. 141; is banished, 193- 
4; letters from, 147, 154 
Clarke, Mr., Rhode Island agent, 67; 
negotiates charter, 89-90; deplores 
Gov. Winthrop's maneuvers, 87; 
amicable compromise, 97 
Clifford, Sir Thomas, Lord Treasurer 
of England, member of Cabal, 200 
Colbert, Charles de Croissey, French 
Ambassador in England, 196-7; re- 
ceives John Scott to discuss gun- 
casting, 260-1 

Colbert, Jean-Baptiste, brother of 
above, First French Minister, 255; 
receives Scott, 256; considers maps, 
256-7; asks Scott for maps again, 
258; sponsors foreign inventions, 
261 

Colcman, Edward, Catholic secretary 
to Duchess of York, 282-300, 304; 
correspondence with Berkshire dis- 
cussed, 308 

Cologne Peace Conference, 246, 247 

Condi, Louis de Bourbon, Prince of, 

254; crosses Rhine, 233; intercedes 

for Scott, 254-7; commands in 

Flanders, 260; commissions Scott 

to survey Burgundian estates, 302, 

306, 321; ablest man in France, 355 

Coniers, Christopher, Protestant 

brother of George, 275 
Coniers, Dr. George, Jesuit priest, 
delivers Pepys' message to Scott, 
274-5; sough t-for assassin, 281, 294, 
313; remembered by Pcpys, 320, 
358; indicted, 320n. 
Connecticut, 97-8, 102, 104-6, 120-7, 
135, 141, 143, 144-5; Appen. A, E 
Cooper, Anthony Ashley, Lord Ash- 
ley, see Shaftesbury 
Cooper, John, Southampton trouble- 
maker, 83. 

Cortlandt, Stevens van, Burgomaster 
of New Amsterdam, 111; reports to 
Stuyvesant, 113-5; Stuyvesant's wit- 



ness for L.T. armistice, 121 

Cotter, Captain, in S. Christopher 
attack, 186-7; accused of fraterniz- 
ing, 188-9; Appen. G, H 

Coventry, Sir Henry, English Sear 
tary of State, defends Scott, 313 

Cowley, William, cadet in Scott's 
regiment, 217 

Cranfield, Edward, makes report on 
disputed Narragansctt claims, 99n 

Crcsswell, ship searcher, 259, 338 

Cromwell, Oliver, England's dictator, 
3, 5, 43; rescinds Scott's banish- 
ment, 46; little interest in colonial 
affairs, 79, 279; Scott refuses service 
with him, 46, 379; rcf. to, 239n. 

Crowe, John, Barbados' planter, 
Scott's liost, 172, 341 

de Crynsens, noted Dutch com- 
mander, 188 

Dakers, Dutch lawyer, 215 

Dallais, French language teacher, 
302; warns Scott, 339 

Danby (Thomas Osborne), Earl of, 
Lord Treasurer, 282 

Davenport, The Rev. John, founder 
of New Haven, 57; protests Scott's 
arrest, 129 

Davis, Captain William, Massachu- 
setts' emissary to protest Scott's 
arrest, 132 

Deane, Sir Anthony, ship-builder, 
310; acknowledges piracy, 312, 318; 
sent to Tower, 313-15, 317-18; lies 
about interpreters, 319, 320; presses 
for trial, 357; urges Pepys to pub- 
lish affidavits, 362; speculative en- 
terprises, 371; precarious situa- 
tion, 372; Appen. J 

Denise, M., French supply merchant, 
325, 329, 337, 358 

Denton, Nathaniel and David, 
Jamaica notaries, L.I., 57 

Disponteyn, Dutch army-solicitor, 
206-8; suspected by Scott, 209-11; 
visited by Deborah Egmont in jail, 
213, 216; released, 217; Appen. I 

Doise, Wentworth, M.P.'s servant, 361 

Donluis, Phelix, Admiralty clerk, 
359, 360 

Downing, Emmanuel, wealthy Lon- 



432 f 



don lawyer, 11; brings Scott to 

N.E., 13-14; disposes of children, 

23-6; sentences Scott, 40-1 
Downing, George (later Sir), son of 

Emmanuel, British Envoy at The 

Hague, 50; reports Scott's N.E. 

assignment, 80; intrigues against 

Dutch, 104 

Druart, Scott's sergeant, 206, 210 
Du Moulin, Dutch agent, 222 
Dunster, President of Harvard, re- 

ceives 150 for college from sale 

of children, 26 
Duparc, Noel, Louis XIV's notary, 

264 
Duppa, Brian, Bishop of Salisbury, 

71 
Dyre, Captain, 348 

Easthampton, L.I., 98, 106, 121n., 153; 

Appen. L 
Edmondson, Rev. George, English 

scholar, 177n., 389; Appen. M 
Egmont, Deborah, Dutch servant, 

206-12; subpeoned, 215; obtains 

warrant, 216; marries Nederway, 

217; begs favor from Pepys, 360 
Elizabeth, Queen of England, 20, 

236n. 

Elliot, The Rev. John, 52 
Endicott, John, governor of Massa- 

chusetts, 27, 23 heading 
Evelyn, John, diarist, 18, 349 

Feis, Thomas, one of Scott's servants, 

95, 158 
Ferguson, the Plotter, English repub- 

lican, 345 
Feuillade, Due de la, French gov- 

ernor of Messina, 271 
Fielding, Henry, 329 
Fisher, Hallelujah, Kentish parson's 

son, Scott's apprentice, 41; enter's 

Ashford household, 95 

Gage, Thomas, preacher, explorer, 

173 

Garrad, Dan, Hartford jailer, 138 
Gelson, British agent, 212, 220-1, 229; 

writes Pepys from Norway 375-7 
Gennisperhuys camp at Gennep, 206-7 
Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, English navi- 

gator, pioneer colonist, 53 



Gladman, Major John, 274-6 

Glauber, Rudolf, German chemist, 
267 

Glover, Boston committeeman to sell 
children, 23 n. 

Godfrey, Sir Edmund Berry, London 
magistrate, 281, 292; funeral, 293, 
303-5, 308n.; featured in Pope- 
Burning, 332 

Godfrey, alias for Jesuit Father 
Suiman, 295-6, 306, 31 1 

Gotherson, Major Daniel, Quaker, 
owns L.I. land, 73; loanetf 300 to 
Thomas Scott, regicide, 75; buys 
land, 76, 166, 348 

Gotherson, Daniel, Jr., son of Doro- 
thea Scott and Major Gotherson, 
95; runs away after Scott's arrest, 
125-6, ref. to, 348 

Gotherson, Dorothea-Scott-Hogben, 
73; meets Scott at Restoration 
Court, 74; petitions Lovelace, and 
wrings admission from Nicolls, 
166-7; friendship with Scott, 167; 
testifies in Scott's favor, 348 

Goux, M. le, Pelissary's cousin and 
technician, 263 

Gourville, Condi's Intendant, 287, 
302 

Green Ribbon Club, 294, 313, 332, 
345, 364 

Grey, de Stamford, Earl of Berk- 
shire's heir, 323 

Groenewegen (Croenewegel, Crom- 
wegel, Gromweagel), Dutch ex- 
plorer, 175-6, 384, 385-6, 389 

Guiana, 174-5, 382, 384; Appen. M 

Gunman, Captain, 323, 328 

Hand, Joseph, one of Scott's Setauket 

partners, 101 
Harbord, William, M.P., accuses 

Pepys, 310, 313; accompanies Prince 

of Orange to England, 377 
Harrison, John, gun-caster, 264, 357 
Harris, Benjamin, pamphleteer, 

founder first American newspaper, 

278 (heading & n.) 
Hawkins, /acherious, one of Scott's 

Setauket partners, 101 
Hendrikson, Swiss explorer, 176 
Hegemann, Dutch sheriff, 109-11 



Hewer, William, Pepys* clerk, 349, 
360; bribes Admiralty clerk, 363 

Hewlett, George, buys Scott's estate, 
166n. 

Heyden, Johan van der, Dutch 
lawyer, 214, 216 

Hill, London iron-founder, 273-5; re- 
calls Pepys' offer, 276; testifies for 
Scott, 358 

Hispaniola, 44, 46 

Hopewell, Scott's 60- ton ketch, 65; 
arrives at Barbados, 171 

Houblon, James, Whig merchant, 
323 

Howell, Captain Richard, son of 
Southampton's founder, 61, 64, 372 

Hudson, Henry, English explorer, 
118-9 

Hulst, Maria van, Disponteyn's wife, 
214 

Hunter, a sloop fitted out as priva- 
teer, 310-11, 318 

Huntington, L.I., 57-8; Appen. B 

Hutchinson, Edward, Member of 
Atherton Land Co., 67; empowers 
Scott to solicit King, 90 

James I, (Stuart), King of England, 
refutes Reginald Scott's heretical 
writing, 118-9; conveys L.I. to 
Earl of Stirling, 53 

James, Duke of York, Lord High Ad- 
miral of England, 118-9; granted 
L.I., 140; plans invasion, 141; 
his ingratitude, 151-6; refuses to 
take Test Act, 274; blocks Scott's 
advancement, 275-7; insists on 
Popish Plot inquiry, 280; political 
situation worsens, 303; instructions 
to French Navy, 316; banished, 
331; indicted as Popish recusant, 
365; succeeds to throne, 377; driven 
from throne, 377-8 

Javier, D. of York's barber, 361 

Jenkins, Sir Leoline, Sec. of State, 
373 

Johnson, John, Scott's alias, 306; 
Shaftesbury's alias, 377 

Joyne, John, English watchmaker, 
259; drunken bore, 263-9; sees 
Scott in Paris, 297; discovered by 
Baity, 324; accepts Pepys' invita- 
tion, 325-6; deposes against Scott, 



INDEX f 433 

326-7; arrives London, 333; trails 
Scott, 334-43; notes Pepys' doubts, 
350; blackmails Pepys from Paris, 
360-1 

Kelly, John, suitor of Deborah Ray- 

nor, 62-3 
Kirby, Christopher, warns Charles II, 

280 

Lampsinn, Dutch marine merchant, 
222, 241 

Lane, Daniel, Scott's Setauket part- 
ner, 101 

Laurent, Lawrence, Colonel de Saint, 
French commander at St. Christo- 
pher, 188; Appen. G 

Lawrence, John, Englishman hold- 
ing Dutch commission, 111; Stuy- 
vesant's armistice witness, 121 

Leete, William, Cromwell's agent, 
governor of New Haven, 130; pro- 
tests Scott's arrest, 131-2; reveals 
attempted murder of Scott, 134 

Leighton, Sir Ellis, Buckingham's 
agent, 287 

Leverett, Major-General John, Hart- 
ford's representative supports Scott, 
132; Appen. B 

Lissart, Willem, Dutch attorney, 213 

Livesey, Sir Michael, 234; Appen. I 

Locke, John, ideas like Scott's, 227 
(heading), 232; visits Butterfield, 
264n.; youth with Shaftesbury, 246- 
7; his law-abiding policy, 354; in- 
fluence on Glorious Revolution, 
365 

Long Island, 47, 48-59, 65, 67, 78, 84, 
96-7, 99, 101-3, 105-7, 108-9, 117-9, 
121-2, 128n., 135-8, 141, 143, 145-9, 
150, 153, 155, 165, 347, 349, 381, 
383; Appen. A, B, L 

Lorraine, Duke of, 248 

Louis XIV (Bourbon), King of 
France, 195, 199; sends subsidies, 
223; crosses Rhine, 233; takes 
Maestrick, 248, 260; redoubles 
bribes, 279; disapproves Bucking- 
ham's tactics, 287-8; fountainhead 
European cash, 317, 319, 331; 
breach with Charles II, 362; finan- 
cial deals, 366 

Lovelace, Sir Francis, gov. of L.I., 57; 



434 f INDEX 

locates Dorothea Gotherson's land, 

77; says Scott was paid in "money 

and jewels," 77; receives Dorothea's 

letter, 166-7; ref. to, 348 
Lovelace, Thomas, gov. of New York, 

brother of Francis, 77; reports to 

Pepys, 348 
Lude, Due de, 265 
Lynch, Stephen, English consul, 244- 

5 

Manning, Captain, gun-manufac- 
turer, 263-4 

Mason, John, deputy-governor of 
Connecticut, 67 

Massachusetts, 7, 25, 55, 67, 79, 83-4, 
85, 87-91, 130, 132, 141, 152, 175; 
Appen. A 

Mattison, Captain, explorer in 
Spanish service, 176-7 

Maverick, Samuel, helps Scott write 
Narrative, 92, 157n., 159n. 

Mayo, Samuel, early owner of dis- 
puted Horse Neck, L.I., 58; Appen. 
B 

Meggs, Mark, Southampton land- 
owner, 63 

Milbourne, Jacob, indentured serv- 
ant, 341, 347 

Modyford, Sir Thomas, Jamaica 
governor, 181 

Monmouth, Duke of, Charles II's 
eldest natural son, commands in 
Lowlands, 237, 309; royal candi- 
date, 330; commands in France, 
336; Black Box Rally to publicize 
legitimacy, 346, 364, 376 

Montbas, Conte de, French agent, 
245n. 

Monterey, Count of, Spanish com- 
mander, 237 

Moreau, Pelissary's porter, 326 

Morgan, Henry, buccaneer, 46, 181 

Morris, Colonel Lewis, prominent 
Quaker, 172, 175 

Moulins, Mademoiselle des, French 
businesswoman, 263, 352 

Narbrough, Sir John, renowned navi- 
gator, 340 

Narragansett country, 41; Indians, 
67; patent, 78, 87-91, 125; Cran- 
field Report on, 99n. 



Nederway, Dutch sergeant, 208-10 
marries Deborah Egmont, 217 

Netscher, Colonel, specialist Dutch 
affairs on U.S. Commission, 385, 388 

Nevers, 261,263-7 

New Haven, 91, 99, 114, 125, 127, 
129, 130, 132-3 

New Amsterdam (Manhattans), 49, 
111-2, 121-2, 140, 142-3, 381; Appen. 
B, E 

Newman, owner of London coffee- 
house, 337, 340-2, 355, 363 

New Netherland, 49-50, 80,,93, 104- 
110, 117, 121, 141, 143 

Newton, Arthur Percival, C.E.E.; 
English historian, I77n. 

Nicolls, Matthias, testifies against 
Scott, 347-8; Appen. E, L 

Nicolls, Colonel Richard, land-rul- 
ings, 58; declares Gotherson case 
cannot be examined, 77; leads N.N. 
attack, 141-3; informs Winthrop 
about L.I. boundary, 146; invokes 
Scott's aid, 146; grants passport, 
147; Duke's Laws, 147-57; threat- 
ens L.l.-ers, 158; orders Scott 
into court and confiscates his land, 
159-60, 166n.; helps Deborah 
Scott, 160; acknowledges Dorothea 
Gotherson might get back prop- 
erty, 167; begs Clarendon recall 
him for fitter governor, 167; at- 
tempt to ruin Scott fails, 184, 347; 
Appen. E, L 

Noucl, Sieur, French governor, 188 

Gates, Titus, revealer of Popish Plot, 
281; apostate, 293; expands testi- 
mony, 302; England's alleged 
Saviour, 307-9; leniently treated, 
331; turned out of Whitehall, 364- 
5; indicted for perjury, pilloried, 
flogged, 377; ref. to, 369 

Ogden, John, early Southampton 
landowner and magistrate, 82; re- 
ceives deed to N.J., 156; testifies for 
Scott, Appen. L 

Olcott, Thomas, Milbourne's first 
master, 341 

Olney, Richard, U.S. Secretary of 
State, 383 

Orange, William, Prince of, visits 



London, 197; indomitable, 201; ap- 
pointed Captain-General national 
forces, 230; opens sluices, 232; sues 
for armistice, 234; hard pressed, 
279; has U.P. firmly in hand, 365, 
375; King o f England, 377; rets, 
to, 253-4, 327, 331 n., Appen. K 

Osborne, William, buys part of 
Scott's estate, 16(m. 

Oyster Bay, L.I., 75; Appen. B 

Paffenrode, Rudolf van, Hague High 

Bailiff, 213-4, 217 
Paris, 257, 259, 260-6, 268, 271, 287, 

297,302,318, 326 
Pelicot, Ma thin in, Colbert's agent in 

Holland, 239n. 

Pelissary, M., Treasurer- General 
French Navy, 263, 310; ordered 
treat Deane well, 311; dealings 
with Scott, 317, 319, 326; Appen. J 
Pepys, Samuel, Admiralty Clerk of 
the Acts (later Secretary), notes 
Dorothea Scott at Court, 74; out- 
fits ships, 223; rumors about, 234; 
begs Williamson for war reports, 
224, 242, 247; mocks Scott, 256n.; 
offers Scott his services, 275; visits 
Houndsditch, 276; regarded sus- 
piciously, 304; defends Atkins, 304; 
examined by Council, 309-10; ac- 
cuses Scott, 311-12; sent to Tower, 
313; examined by Opposition, 315- 
17; joint owner of Flying Grey- 
hound, 318; possible reason for 
helping Scott, 319-20; accumulates 
affidavits, 320, 335, 348-55, 356; 
sends Milbourne to D. of Y., 347; 
curious error of, 349; eavesdrops 
on Scott, 351-5; presses for trial, 
357-63; negotiates with perjurers, 
359-63; urges Baity to get more 
affidavits, 361; writes Hewer about 
Deane, 370-1; cited in Thompson's 
Intelligencer, 368-9; warns Deane, 
369; Appen. J, K 

Pequot Indians, 41 

Pierson, the Very Rev. Abraham, 
Southampton's pastor, 66; Appen. C 

Pierson, Henry, son of above, South- 
ampton's Recorder, 57, 66 

Pirogerie, M. de la, French officer, 
interpreter, 263-4; Appen. J 



INDEX f 435 

Player, Sir Thomas, 352, 355 

Pointe, de la, French copyist, 259, 
269; confirms favorable testimony, 
327 

Pomponnc, Marquis de, French Sec- 
retary o[ State, 197, 298 

Popish Plot, 278-84, 288, 292-4, 299- 
302, 308, 311, 365, 369; a new 
popish plot, 362 

Prior, Mathew, Gotherson's bailiff, 
75, 100 

Puckle, James, 229, 328 

Quoge, Appen. L 

Raleigh, Sir Walter, 176, 183, 221 

Raynor, Deborah, only daughter of 
Thurston, sec Deborah Scott 

Raynor, Joseph, brother of Deborah, 
64, 166 

Raynor, Thurston, magistrate in New 
Haven, Stamford, Conn., South- 
ampton citizen, 62, 63 

Rich bell, John, L.I. leal estate dealer, 
75; Appen. B 

Rolle, Sir Francis, republican M.P., 
268 (heading), 295 

Rupert (of the Rhine), Prince, 
nephew of Charles I, leads his 
troops, 4; deplores Fleet condition, 
223; gunnery experiments before 
Royal Society, 263; instructions to 
French Navy, 316; honors Shaftes- 
bury, 344 

Saint-Amoer, John Scott's sergeant, 
206, 208 

St. Michel, Balthazar (Baity), Pepys' 
brother-in-law, 310; sent to Paris, 
322; finds little incriminating 
John, 323; stumbles on John Joyne, 
324; anxious to remain in Paris, 
329; bribes witnesses, 339-57; warns 
Pepys, 358 

Salm, Peter, grandson of oil-tycoon 
Colonel Rogers and son of Milicent 
Rogers and Count Salm of Austria, 
present owner of John Scott's 
house, 62n. 

Salter, Walter, imprisoned by Scott, 
122 

Sand, Lord, M.P., 336 



436 f INDEX 

Savile, Sir Henry, British Ambassa- 
dor in France, 297; replies to 
Pepys, 321 

Saye and Sele, Lord Chancellor of 
England, 85-6 

Scott, Clarence, of Southampton, d. 
1957, 169 

Scott, Dorothea (Gotherson-Hogben), 
heiress Scot's Hall, 73; meets John, 
74; petitions Lovelace and wrings 
acknowledgement from Nicolls, 76, 
78, 166-7; relates son's disappear- 
ance, 127; renews friendship, 288 

Scott, Deborah (see Raynor), mar- 
ries John, 62-3; pleads with Win- 
throp, 134-5; moves to Scot's Hall, 
100, 138; receives Nicolls' help, 
166-7; sells horses, 168; marries 
Sturmey, 168; probably rejoins 
John, 380 

Scott, Sir Edward (of Scot's Hall), on 
Committee of Safety, 10; ac- 
knowledges bastard and dies (1663), 
100 

Scott, Henry Edward, historian, gene- 
alogist, 76n., 96n.; Appen. D 

Scott, Colonel John (d. 1641), 6, 11 

Scott, John, Jr., b. Southampton 
(1659), 66; army officer, 168, 372-3 

Scott, Sir John, Household Comp 
troller King Edward IV, 19, 71 

Scott, John, of L.I., Civil War refu- 
gee, 5-8; cuts bridles, 9; banished, 
11; sails with E. Downing, 14-15; 
arrives Boston, 23; sold to Law- 
rence South wick, 26; training, 27- 
38; no Quaker, 39; runs away to 
sea and is sentenced, 40; admon- 
ished for swearing, 41; buccaneer, 
44-5; refuses serve Cromwell, 46; 
returns N.E., 47; J.S. of L.I., 48; 
lives with Indians, 51; writes about 
Indians, 52-6; marries, 63; attorney, 
64; buys Jlopewell and Fleur-de- 
Luce f 65-6; sails for England, 
agent for Atherton Land Com- 
pany, 67; description, character, 
69, 174, 202-3; signs land deal with 
Gotherson, 76; attracts attention 
Foreign Plantations Council, 79- 
92; returns to N.E. as latter's agent, 
80; goes back to London, 83; peti- 
tion refused, 84; authorized to 



plead Atherton case, 90; receives 
King's letter, 91; ordered to draw 
up Narrative on Dutch situation, 
92; commissioned by Privy Council, 
93; brings home pedigree, 96; ad- 
vises Southampton and Easthamp- 
ton on tax claims, 97-8; receives 
petitions, 99-100; buys and de- 
velops land, 101; warns Williamson 
of Connecticut's designs on L.I., 
102; elected president, 107; resigns 
Winthrop's commission, 108; in- 
vades Dutch towns on L.J., 109-19; 
signs armistice with Stuyvesant, 
120-1; is arrested, 124-7; poisoned, 
134; trial, sentence and escape, 
137-8; ordered to establish garrison 
on Barbados, 145; tempted by 
Nicolls, 149; joins N.E. Resistance, 
150-7; land confiscated, 159; enters 
Willoughby's service, 172; captures 
Tobago, 181-2; fights at St. Chris- 
topher, 186; accused by Cotter, 
188-9; further action, 189-90; im- 
prisoned in London, 192; Royal 
Geographer, 194-5; attached Dutch 
forces, 197-8; offered Roos gover- 
norship, 201; meets Deborah Eg- 
morit, 205-12; prosecutes Dispon- 
teyn, 213; relinquishes Dutch com- 
mand on King's orders, 219; taken 
for military intelligence, 221; re- 
ports in London, 224; dines with 
Buckingham, 225; dispatches, 227- 
48; informs Arlington of Dutch 
offers, 238-9; meets Prince Cond, 
254; negotiates with Seigneley con- 
cerning guncasting, 262-6; Pepys 
offers help, 275-6; drawn to Coun- 
try Party, 279; visits Paris with 
Buckingham, 287; mission to 
Louis XIV, 297-8; reports Berk- 
shire's testimony, 307-8; accuses 
Pepys in H. of C., 310; quits Lon- 
don with Buckingham, 330; visits 
Lady Vane, 336-7; meets John 
Locke, 346-7; trapped by Joyne, 
350-5; in France again with Buck- 
ingham, 359; briefs Irish witnesses, 
363; elected member Green Ribbon 
Club, 364; abjures Buckingham's 
"direct action," 366, 374; kills 
coachman and flees, 368; writes 



Arlington, 379; formal pardon, 378- 
9; speaker of Leeward Assembly, 
380; death recorded, 381; Histories 
in Court, 384-90 

Scott, Joseph, Salem cowherd, 27 

Scott, Jecomiah, second son of J.S. of 
L.I., 95, 169, 371 

Scott, Thomas, regicide, 75, 328 

Scott, William, son of above, 228, 
375; Appen. L 

Lc Scot, John, Palatine Karl of 
Chester (d. 1244), 18 

Le Scot, Monsiegncur William Balioi 
(d. 1313), 18, 19 

Scot's Hall (Kent), 16-22, 71, 73-6, 
100, 349; Appcn. D; (Setauket), 
100-1, 124, 133, 158, 166 

Scull, Gideon Delaplaine, one-time 
Pres. Mass. Hist. Soc., 76n., 348 

Scuttup, L.I. sachem, sold land to 
Major Atherton, 88 

Seeley, Nathan, Hartford marshal, 
124-7, 129, 341 

Seigneley, Marquis de Colbert's eld- 
est son and State Secretary for 
French Navy, 262-3, 313; deposes 
Pepys gave him number, strength 
of English ships, 322; Appen. J 

Shaftesbury, Earl of (Anthony Ashley 
Cooper), member of Cabal, 194; 
ignorant of Treaty of Dover, 200; 
in Tower, 272; President of Coun- 
cil, 293, 305; prepares insurrection, 
331; heads Country Paity, 344; his 
"Brisk Boys," 345; relation with 
John Locke and John Scott, 346; 
sends Scott to West Country, 364; 
defies King, 365; released from 
Tower, 367; flees England incog- 
nito, 377; last appeal to Charles II, 
380 

Sherwin, Edward, gun manufacturer, 
263-6; quarrels with Scott, 266, 
339 

Shrewsbury (Anna-Maria Talbot), 
Countess of, mistress of Bucking- 
ham, 286 

Shrewsbury, Duke of, 378 

Southwick, Lawrence, Quaker, 26, 29; 
arrived in New England 1627, 27; 
persecuted, 31, 35, 39; sues Scott, 
40; ruined, 43; banished, 61 



INDEX f 437 

Southwick, Cassandra, wife of above, 
35; persecuted, 38, 40, 61 

Southwick, Daniel, John, Provided, 
children of above, 28, 40 

Spain, King of, 49, 248 

Stafford, Lord of, Tower prisoner, 
301 

Stanborough, Josiah, one of South- 
ampton's founders, 63-66 

Stanton, Thomas, N.E. interpreter, 
88, Appen. C 

Stapleton, Captain, attacked St. Kilts, 
186-7; Appen. G 

Stirling, 1st Earl of, original Long 
Island grantee, 53; the 4th Earl 
cedes it to James, Duke of York, 
97, 141n. 

Strongh, Dutch army officer, 202 

Slurmcy, Charles, wealthy Southamp- 
ton tanner, 168, 372, 380 

Stuyvesant, Peter, Director-General 
of New Nethcrland (1647-1664), 50; 
laments English designs on L.I., 
80; protests to the N.E. Commis- 
sioners about Gov. Winthrop's ag- 
gressive designs, 103; angered by 
Scott's letter, 110, 114, 118, 129; 
signs truce with Scott, 120-1; forti- 
fies New Amsterdam, 142; surren- 
ders to British, 143-4 

Sunk Squa, Quashawam, widow of 
Sachem Wyandanch, gives Scott 
power of attorney, 57-8; Appen. 
E, L 

Sunk Squa, Weaney, mother of Jacka- 
napes, Appen. L 

Sylvester, Nathaniel, Quaker mer- 
chant of Shelter Island, 60; sues 
Scott, 61; Appen. B 

Talcott, Captain, sent by Gov. Win- 
throp to attack L.I., 103, 106 

Taylor, Silas, agent, 229; Appen. I 

Temple, Sir Thomas, governor of 
Nova Scotia, 89 

Temple, Sir William, British Ambas- 
sador at the Hague, 216; claims 
back salary, 244; receives John 
Scott's map, 256; love-match, 289 

Tertre, du, Monsieur R. P., 187, 189, 
262; Appen. H 

Thomson, Thomas, noted New Eng- 
lander, 57; testifies, 121 n. 



438 f INDEX 

Topping, John, Southampton land- 
owner, 371, 273; Appen. L 
Tour, Samuel d'Alliez de la, Purveyor 
of French Navy and Colbert's 
right-hand man, 261; casts model 
guns for Scott, 197, 265; questioned 
for gun details, 266; visited by 
Scott, 302 

Trenchard, John, M.P., 364 
Turenne, Marshal of France, 260 
Turner, Goodman, receives 100 in 

1643 from sale of children, 26 
Tynge, Edward, Boston committee- 
man for sale of children, 23n. 

Underhill, Captain John, serves with 
Scott, 114; witness at Stuyvesant 
armistice, 121; defends Scott, 128-9; 
Appen. E 

Vane, Lady 'Constantia,' widow of 
Sir Harry, regicide, 288; her letter, 
289-91; mentioned by Joyne, 330; 
dies suddenly, 342; her family, 351 

Vane, Sir Harry, signed King Charles 
1's death warrant, 7 

Vernon, James, Sec. of State, 222, 
224-5, 242 

Villiers, George, see Buckingham 

Wentworth, British M.P., 260, 294, 
338, 361 

Whitehall, 70, 73-4, 78, 83, 246, 293, 
349, 365 

Willoughby, Lieutenant Henry, com- 
manded at St. Christopher, 186-7; 
Appen. G, H 

Willoughby, Lord Francis, gov. of 
Barbados, 171-2, 183-6, 190 

Willoughby, Sir William, brother of 
above, succeeds Francis, 186; at- 
tacks, 186; defends Scott, 189; 
ordered to reimburse Scott, 190; 
Appen. G, H 

Wildman, Major John, outstanding 
republican, 286-7, 294; plots with 
Buckingham, 287; mentioned by 
Joyne, 334-7, 343; works with 
Shaftesbury, 344; brings back 
Prince of Orange, 377 

Williamson, Joseph (later Sir), secre- 
tary to Henry Bennet, 72; intro- 



duces John Scott to Arlington, 78, 
220; diary records Scott's assign- 
ment, 221; defends Scott, 313; 
could have enlightened Pepys, 328; 
letters to, 102, 184, 221, 225, 228-9, 
232, 237, 240, 246, delegate Cologne 
Conference, 242; Appen. K 

Wilson, Deborah, Salem Quaker 
exhibitionist, 39 

Winthrop, John, Sr., Boston's founder, 
13-14; influence on administration, 
38; views on land, 30n., 53-4 

Winthrop, John Jr., granted Pequot 
land, 41; member Athcfton Land 
Co., 67; receives Connecticut 
Charter, 84-7; approves Scott's ap- 
peal to King, 90; orders attack on 
L.I., 103; commissions Scott, 106; 
imprisons Scott, 127; is censured, 
128-33; sequesters Scott's property, 
135; accepts Scott's armed help, 
143; announces possession of L.T., 
145; offers Nicolls present on hear- 
ing L.I. in N.Y. charter, 146; dis- 
cusses charter freedoms with Scott, 
152; receives Scott's resignation, 
379 

W r inthrop, Lucy, wife of Emmanuel 
Downing, 25 

de Witt, Cornelius (Admiral Ruart 
van Putten), 207, 234-7 

de Witt, Jan, Grand Pensionary 
United Provinces, 199-201, 215, 229; 
with Lovestcin Party abolishes 
Stadhoudcr title, 230; believes in 
people's rule, 231; murdered, 234- 
5, 253; influence on Scott, 285; 
Appen. K 

Woodhull, Richard, L.I. magistrate 
and real estate dealer, 66; Scott's 
partner, 101; Appen. E 

Wyandanch, Grand Sachem of Mon- 
tauk tribes, L.I., 52, 57-8; Appen. 
C, L 

Yard, Robert, Whitehall clerk, 246 
York, Duke of, see James 
Youngs, John, Scott's life-long friend, 
49,61, 121; Appen. E 

Zeeland, 221, 222, 228, 231-2, 236-7, 
239-42, 246